The neighborhood survey commissioned by the City Council of Icod de los Vinos to find out the opinion of the neighbors on the type of sand to be used in the San Marcos beach remodeling project, has shown that “nine out of ten people surveyed they prefer natural sand to crushed sand, which is what Costas proposes in the approved project”, explained the icodense mayorFrancis Gonzalez.
The municipal councilor offered the details of the query, in which 1,080 people participated, of which 173 were excluded for not meeting the requirements to participate, which were to be over 16 years of age and be registered in the municipality. González highlighted that “a very important piece of information for us is that four out of five respondents, that is, some 747 people, are willing to wait for the San Marcos beach as long as the sand used comes from the banks that they are on the outskirts of San Marcos, where more than 41,000 cubic meters are located”.
And it is that the winning proposal in the neighborhood survey is also the one defended by the Icod government team, which rejects the use of crushed sand (from quarries), as stated in the project approved by Costas, and with the approval of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The option of natural sand means that an environmental impact study would have to be requested, which right now, as the project is planned, would not be necessary. González insists that “we have time to do this study.” “The project specifies that the sand will be incorporated in the 13th month of execution of the work, so if we are heard, there is time to carry out that study,” he added.
Precisely what it is about, admitted the mayor, is that the Government of the Canary Islands listen to the Icod City Council, since as it is a consultation whose result is not binding, the use of natural sand will depend on the will of the Government of Canary Islands and Coasts. “This neighborhood survey supports us before the rest of the institutions, and I trust that they will listen to us”, concluded the mayor.
Criticism of the opposition to the low participation in the survey on the beach of San Marcos
From the opposition, which has openly criticized this process, accusing the mayor of using public money to support his position, yesterday, the PSOE, assured that “the neighbors have turned their backs on the mayor”, in reference to what, in his opinion, judgment, is a low turnout. The socialist spokesman, Gerardo Rizo, considered that “the residents of Icod have almost unanimously turned their backs on Francis González after knowing the participation data; not even those who voted for him in the 2019 elections have supported his proposal.”
