After a difficult start, will the victorious City Council dismiss the mandate with better financial health?
Yes, we started from a complicated situation and we recently approved the 2023 budget, where three of the four outstanding loans will be paid. It was possible to settle all the debt, but we considered it a priority to allocate the resources we had in the banks to solve many of the needs of the municipality. We will only have to pay the loan that CC and PP requested in 2019, months before the elections, to pave quickly and quickly. At the end of 2023, we will only have a bank debt of around 600,000 euros. We have been economically redirecting this town hall, also with the help of the large number of subsidies obtained from other administrations. So we’re happy.
Is the 2023 budget the highest in local history?
Yes, with 9.6 million euros it is the highest. Despite the fact that some planned multi-year investments such as the 4.6 million for the new auditorium are not included. These accounts also include the important effort, of about 380,000 euros, to pay off those three of the four outstanding loans that we found in 2019.
What projects are most exciting for this final stretch of mandate?
We have the nursing home practically finished and I am excited that very important projects for the municipality will begin, such as the municipal auditorium, the parking building next to the town hall, the remodeling of the La Pólvora area, the roundabout on the main road and hopefully We may also be able to start the tender for the nursery school, the first stone of which was laid 41 years ago.
What will be done in La Pólvora?
The idea is to gain space, open up that area to prevent it from becoming a bottleneck. The street will be wider and more accessible, and there will be a square with a kiosk and two premises on the ground floor, one of which will be for taxi drivers.
They began the mandate with just three streets with a sanitation network. Has there been any progress in sewerage?
Yes, we are happy because just a month ago the act of rethinking the second phase of Carretera Vieja was signed, where there will be sanitation. It will be from the Cadena bar to the border with Santa Úrsula. The works are underway and we continue to plan new areas between 2022 and 2025. We have also submitted several projects to European funds.
When will the construction of the wastewater treatment plant begin?
Between 2024 and 2025 it will start to get under way. It is already a reality, but you have to understand that it is a different project than the one we opposed. It will be a modern treatment plant, completely closed, and with an attached facility so that the reclaimed water can benefit farmers and also the rest of the municipality in matters such as garden irrigation. It will have nothing to do with that treatment plant to which we said no.
Renovating the drinking water network will cost 20 million euros. Have you started yet?
Yes, in the budget we have established some items for that. The Asphalted Plan will soon begin, probably after Christmas and Epiphany. We have previously grooved those tracks and changed the water pipes to avoid damaging the new asphalt in the future. In addition, the fiber optic pipe has been buried. We also have two projects submitted to European funds to renew the drinking water network. Just acting in two streets means 1.5 million euros. Let’s hope those funds arrive so we can continue to improve. It is a pending subject. In this mandate we renewed all the public lighting and legalized the electrical panels, and we installed almost a thousand photovoltaic panels. After that, it’s time to get to the water network.
Had Victoria been left behind in many ways?
The municipality had fallen behind in a lot of things. The residence for the elderly, the library, the nursery school, the roundabout… are projects that should have been executed before 2019 and we have had to unblock them. There were many things stuck and it was up to us to get to work to be able to match the neighboring municipalities.
When will the nursing home open?
That is one of my big objectives and I am happy. The work is practically finished, in the absence of auctions and furniture, which is already tendered. We have arranged the places with the Cabildo and we trust that it can be launched next year. Since we can, we are not going to waste a second. It is a historical claim.
Will the new auditorium be the greatest work in local history?
Yes, it will be the most expensive, with 5.3 million euros, including the clearing of the plot. And I dare to assure you that this mandate has been the one with the greatest investment in the history of our municipality. I’m sure. There are many million euros: 5.3 in the auditorium, 1.8 in the Carretera Vieja, 1.5 in the car park; more than 400,000 euros in the roundabout, more than 300,000 euros in La Pólvora, 600,000 euros for the paving plan, more than 750,000 euros in the high school courts, 900,000 euros for the square, 400,000 euros for the playground, the library, the residence, the mini residence, the employment plans, the Led lighting, the photovoltaic panels, the charging points, the new vehicles… we will be around 20 million euros. And that’s a lot for us, who have a budget of 9 million.
“This mandate has been the largest investment in the history of our municipality”
What goals would you set for the next term?
Our main objective is and will continue to be caring for people, from the youngest to the oldest. But in terms of works, we want to improve the sports facilities by building a new pavilion and, above all, open new roads. They have not been built for a long time and they are sorely needed: the transversal from La Resbala to Acentejo; a road parallel to the main highway, which would also allow us to build the first public housing development in local history, and auxiliary roads for schools such as the one in Santo Domingo.
Are the tails of the TF-5 a brake on the development of La Victoria de Acentejo?
It is clear that the TF-5 is still the great pending task, but when it is remedied, although it will benefit us, we must be prudent with respect to the development of our territory. We can grow gradually, in an orderly and balanced way. I believe that, as announced this week by the presidents of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de Tenerife, steps have been taken. There are already projects, there will be a tender soon and I hope that sooner rather than later we will begin to see solutions. With unblocked roads, people will want to live in the North. Here there is quality of life and a large number of services. With fast communications, I am sure that the towns in this area will grow. The fundamental thing is to put an end to the queues that we have suffered in the last 40 years and the health problems that they entail. From the administration, and knowing how long it takes to draft and implement a project, I believe that the work is being done. I wish everything could go faster, but if the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands are capable of putting out those tenders that are planned before the end of the mandate, I would give them a thumbs up.
Do you think it feasible to build a tunnel to join North and South at La Victoria?
There is a proposal to make a tunnel between La Victoria de Acentejo and Candelaria. At Fecam they presented us with the idea of a tunnel that started from the area of the La Victoria soccer field and reached Caletillas. The tour was completed in six minutes. If that passage to unite the North and the South in six minutes is viable, it would be necessary to bet on that tunnel.
Is it a private proposal?
Yes, it was a private proposal, but with the objective that it be assumed by all public administrations and included in the planning and financing plans. I think you have to open that melon and talk about it. I know that there are many open fronts and that right now they are betting on the La Laguna variant and the third rail of the TF-5. However, it seems to me that this should be on the horizon to connect the island underground, as occurs in Madeira, for example. That tunnel would be a wonderful project. A great project for the future for the Cabildo de Tenerife and the Government of the Canary Islands to work on. We as a council would not put any fault to that. We would be delighted with life. Connecting to the South in six minutes would also give us a great economic incentive because it would put our landscape and our restaurants and guachinches more within the reach of tourists. It would be a brutal plus for us.
