The Ministry of Defense guarantees the continuity and momentum in 2023 of the process started three years ago for the transfer of land to Tenerife. There will be a total of 168,994 square meters, an area equivalent to 19 fields of footballfrom military installations located in El Cristo and La Cuesta, both in the municipality of La Laguna. This is how the general in charge of the Command of Canary Islands of the Army, Julio Salom Herrera, during his speech on the occasion of Military Easter in which he represented King Felipe VI as usual.
Salom premiered in the act of each January 6, recovered in all its splendor after two years of restrictions due to the pandemic. The division general, who took office last November to replace Alejandro Escámez, recalled in his speech that the Ministry of Defense has tried during 2022 to develop the protocol of intent signed in 2019 – next day 28 will be four years – with the Council of Tenerife for the alienation of various barracks in San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
The head of the Canary Islands Command announced that it is intended to give impetus, in a first phase, to the alienation of the Arde San Francisco Artillery barracks, in the Plaza del Cristo, currently “in the process of study of disaffection and sale,” said Salom Herrera .
In the Cristo barracks, the area to be sold is 18,663 square meters, broken down into two buildings, one of 17,063 and the other of 1,500 square meters. Next to the square and in a perimeter delimited by the roads of Las Peras, Cañaveral and La Rúa. Different projects have outlined possible uses for that space when it is disaffected. From the Faculty of Education of the University of La Laguna (ULL) to sports fields passing through a Police station.
For a second phase, added the soldier, “studies have been started on the three barracks that make up the Discontinuous Base of La Cuesta.” The facilities are divided into several units located in the same area. It is the largest of those included in the protocol with 149,431 square meters. The so-called Discontinuous Base is made up of the Engineers barracks, which has 76,336 square meters, Ofra-Vistabella with 44,168, and La Cuesta, with 28,927. Here the future construction of houses has been raised.
The protocol.
The Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, and the then president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Carlos Alonso, signed a protocol in January 2019 by which the municipality of La Laguna would recover 252,387 square meters of land – some 25 soccer fields – that in they currently occupy military installations. In addition to those already mentioned, we must add the Las Canteras barracks, also in Aguere, with 85,279 square meters and with a planned use linked in principle to the Anaga Rural Park. Negotiations began some ten years earlier and the agreement established an agreement for the purchase and reuse of the facilities. In these years it has not had the development that should lead first to appraisals and then to effective disposal. General Salom also expressed his “firm intention” to resume the commitment to renew the current agreement with the University of La Laguna (ULL).
Also in Gran Canaria.
Under the same principle of cooperation between the different administrations, Salom announces that Defense reached agreements with Canarian public institutions and organizations to make the use of military facilities available to them. Among them, the General Alemán Ramírez Base, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, intended for environmental education and hiking use of the La Isleta peninsula. Likewise, the Cristóbal Colón barracks, in La Gomera, are proposed to locate a multifunction helicopter integrated into the public service of emergency attention and civil protection. Finally, the swimming pool of the Isla de El Hierro barracks is enabled for the use of people with disabilities.
Captaincy and its environment.
The acts took place in the Palacio de Capitanía General de Canarias in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and in the surroundings of the nearby weyler square from the capital of Tenerife where some 150 people gathered to applaud the military force and uttered some timid cries of long live Spain. At noon the military parade began in which an Honors Unit made up of Command, Squad of Spenders, Flag and a company of the Tenerife Infantry Regiment number 49 participated, in addition to the War Band number 2 of the Canarias XVI Brigade and Music of the Command of the Canary Islands
An institutional reception was then held in the Throne Room of the Palace. The beginning was reserved for the imposition of nine decorations awarded to different personnel awarded on the occasion of Military Easter 2023. Among them seven soldiers –two captains, a second lieutenant, a first sergeant, two sergeants and a corporal–, a commissioner of the National Police and a deputy commissioner of the Santa Cruz Local Police. Civil and military authorities attended, including the state government delegate, Anselmo Pestana, the mayor of Chicharrero, José Manuel Bermúdez, Julio Pérez, Minister of Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands and to the chief generals of the Air Command, Naval Command and Zone of the Civil Guard. The bishop of the Nivariense Diocese, Bernardo Álvarez, was also present.
Emotion and balance.
General Salom delivered an emotional speech. He began by congratulating everyone and then taking stock of what happened in 2022 and mentioning the general lines of action for the coming year. He did it “from this land of the Canary Islands, where the small and distant always acquire such a special value; with some historical deeds as lively as that of July 25, in Tenerife, and that of Batán in Gran Canaria ». He recalled that “we are more than aware of the importance of this anniversary” in reference to “one of the most relevant military celebrations in the military calendar.” Salom appreciates that “from here, from this archipelago, Spain’s advanced sentinel in the middle of the ocean, I intend to make a brief summary of everything that has been done and outline the most important challenges for this year that we have already begun.”
International presence.
The general’s words were very present in the Ukraine crisis. He compared the resistance of the Ukrainian people with that of the Spanish during the War of Independence (1808-1814) and made reference to a text by Benito Pérez Galdós from the Canary Islands about the Siege of Zaragoza in his National Episodes. He stressed “the commitment to our allies”, the transformation and modernization of the capabilities of the Armed Forces and the empowerment of the defense industry. Among the activities carried out in the last year in the Canary Islands, he mentioned the return of “our Canary Islands brigade” after its participation as a United Nations force, the Maneuver Helicopter Battalion number VI, “which daily leave Los Rodeos to fly for the rest of the of archipelago» and of the 94th Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment, in the Operation carried out in Turkey.
Summary by bodies.
The general broke down the main actions carried out during the past year by the different bodies of the Armed Forces. In this sense, he highlighted the contribution of the Canary Islands Command of the Army to international security through coordinated activities with “allied and friendly” countries, such as Senegal, Tunisia and Mauritania. He dedicated heartfelt words to the Canary Islands Naval Command for their support in Tazacorte for 91 days to 3,000 farmers from La Palma during the volcanic eruption. He also did not forget to mention the Canary Islands Air Command for its permanent commitment to the Air Search and Rescue Service (SAR) that “24 hours a day, 365 days a year, they carry out rescue missions and medical air evacuation.” A space in the summary was reserved for the Civil Guard. Salom made it clear that the Benemérita, with its coastal surveillance units and its collaboration with the border authorities of Mauritania and Senegal “was key to reducing the illegal migratory pressure on our islands.” In this line of recognition, the act of homage to the Exemplary People of La Palma on March 12, presided over by the King and Queen of Spain, stood out, where the Medals of Merit for Civil Protection with a red badge were awarded to the highest representatives in the archipelago of the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Forces, the Military Emergency Unit – he praised the intervention of the UME in civil protection operations – and the Civil Guard, for its intervention in the volcanic crisis after the eruption of Tajogaite.
Labor reinsertion.
In relation to the expectations for the current year 2023, within his “constant concern for the personnel”, the general reaffirmed the institutional commitment in the labor reinsertion of the military who end their commitment to the Armed Forces at the age of 45. For them, he points out, the guarantee work that implies the promotion of agreements with public and business entities aimed at obtaining opportunities for access to the world of work will be maintained.
The challenges.
In the field of cultural action, General Salom will assume the challenge of increasing participation in the different cultural awards organized by the Armed Forces for people from the arts, journalism, culture and from Canarian schools. This year, he added, “the Armed Forces in the Canary Islands will face multiple challenges.” Among them, maintaining international operations and deployments; guarantee security in the maritime, air and land spaces of the Canary Islands; continue with the rigor and demand in instruction and training; improve the infrastructures and the quality of life in the bases and barracks or incorporate new materials and equipment.
A final reference: «This year we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the departure from Fuerteventura to Bosnia-Herzegovina, of the very distinguished and legionary –here he winks at his legionary past– Agrupación Táctica Canarias, which will lead us to carry out actions of remembrance». And another quote to conclude the speech of “our eternal Pérez Galdós” regarding that “the most distant are the closest in the heart of the Homeland.” The cheers to Spain and the King preceded the traditional toast in the Central Patio of the Captaincy General.
Military Easter commemorates the recovery of Menorca in 1782. Yesterday it recovered its full dimension within military austerity and discipline. From the left, the parade; Greeting in Weyler Square; General Salom reviews and one of the nine decorations.
