The Ecological Association Save La Tejita presented this Thursday, June 2, a complaint before the Canarian Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment upon detecting that the works continue in the Port of Adejein spite of the precautionary stoppage imposed by the Cabildo de Tenerife on May 31 due to the existence of archaeological sites not registered until now.
Two complaints and possible archaeological remains in the Puertito de Adeje manage to paralyze the works of the tourist macroproject
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As explained in the complaint, the work has continued on the connecting road between Playa Paraíso and Costa Adeje, both last Wednesday and Thursday, June 1 and 2. “Both the Adeje Local Police and the Civil Guard have been notified by telephone of the existence of works despite the precautionary stoppage order, arguing the lack of competence by the aforementioned bodies to intervene in said works” , says the document to which they attach a video, recorded on June 1, in which the operation of an excavator is verified.
The complainant has requested the inspection of the works that have been carried out in these days, “with the consequent sanctions that proceed, ensuring that for as long as necessary the effects of the dictated precautionary stoppage order are complied with.”
For his part, the director of the Cuna del Alma project stated that he had received the notification and his willingness to resume work as soon as possible. For the environmental association, continuity in the work is “a tease and an unacceptable outrage.”
The project already accumulates four complaints
To the complaint for the continuity of the works despite its precautionary stoppage, presented by Salvar La Tejita, three others are added. In fact, it was the complaint filed by the Tegüico Heritage Association before the Insular Corporation which led to the stoppage of work last Tuesday, May 31.
The association, which enjoys great prestige and has collaborated on other heritage projects with public institutions, was the one that carried out an inspection on May 24, discovering that Guanche vestiges had been located in the place where the works were being carried out. This, together with the process of reviewing the project documentation that the Cabildo was already carrying out, led to the precautionary stoppage of the works. In addition, it has been verified that the patrimonial study is not available, a document that the promoting entity had presented to the Government of the Canary Islands.
On the other hand, the environmental association Salvar La Tejita filed another complaint a few days ago with the Canary Islands Government Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment alleging that the works to urbanize the Puertito de Armeñime are causing irreparable damage to the protected and threatened species that are in the area.
The Cradle of the Soul project will be built adjoining a Site of Scientific Interest (SIC). In addition, this coast is part of the Teno – Rasca Special Conservation Area (ZEC), a place where the only Whale Sanctuary in the European Union is located.
Images shared on social networks in which the destruction of some protected plant species can be seen encouraged the complaint. In them you can see a crane uprooting numerous cacti, which end up piled dead in mountains in an attempt to free the place where this luxury tourism macroproject is being built from obstacles.
Such was the controversy generated by these images that this Friday, in the plenary session of the Cabildo de Tenerife, they asked about the authorization of Cuna del Alma to eliminate the cardones in this way. The Minister of the Natural Environment, Isabel García Hernández, replied that “they are taking them to nurseries.” However, not all the specimens will suffer that fate, as the photographs show, since some are totally destroyed, impossible to recover.
The third complaint was filed this weekend by an individual before the Civil Guard upon detecting that work was being done on the site over the weekend. According to municipal ordinances, the execution of large works on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays is prohibited. “We don’t know if the Civil Guard finally showed up at the site to stop the work,” environmentalist Adrián Flores told CanariasNow.
A luxury project for a few
It should be remembered that the objective of this project, financed by two Belgian families, is to convert the population center free of mass tourism (of the few that remain in the south of the island) into a benchmark of luxury, an oasis for the most privileged which will extend over 437,000 square meters along the coast. It is a space that will house up to 420 luxury homes, a hotel, swimming pools, restaurants, a jetty and other buildings that, in short, are being built very close to the Caleta de Adeje Protected Natural Area, declared a Site of Scientific Interest for its landscape relevance. It is not uncommon, therefore, that for many these works are seen as a direct attack on their landscape, their heritage and the environment, despite the fact that the management has reiterated on numerous occasions that it is a “sustainable” project. .
The ambitious plan was launched eight years ago, although it was on May 5 when the first stone was laid, in a symbolic act attended by the mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga; the vice president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Berta Pérez; the investors, Sofie Vandermarliere, from the investment management holding company GT & Co, and David Van Biervliet, representing Fivanco; the real estate developer co-CEO, Filip Hoste; the co-CEO technical director, Andrés Muñoz de Dios; and Remo Masala, creative director.
