Has this been the most complicated mandate?
It has been a very complicated, difficult and complex mandate to face. To the deep economic crisis we are suffering we must add a pandemic and, now finally, a war at the gates of Europe, which is also having very harsh and direct economic consequences. Even so, I think that in general we have done and are dealing with these adverse situations in a very dignified way, with the premise of not leaving anyone stranded on the road.
What has been the most frustrating thing about the last three and a half years?
Possibly the most frustrating thing about this mandate has been the institutional loneliness. I think that he Government of Spain and the Government of Canary Islands They have not been up to the task and have been forgotten from the minute one of the town halls. The mandate ends and we have not received a single euro from the municipal reconstruction fund that both Fecam and Femp have requested repeatedly since 2020. The municipalities have not been a priority for the governments and it is the municipalities that have been in the trenches attending to the needs of the citizenry. If we hadn’t been there, a social riot might have broken out. We have been the protective shield of civil society and I feel frustrated because both from Madrid and from the Government of the Canary Islands the municipalities have been turned their backs, especially because they have counted on the loyalty and help of the municipalities.
And the most gratifying part of this complex period?
Possibly the complicity with the neighbors and the neighbors; your behavior; their collaboration, and understanding of the situation we were going through. It has been something exemplary. Citizens, since the pandemic began, have always been collaborative, orderly, disciplined and supportive. Sometimes society sets an example of how things should be done to the political class. When we work as a team, everything is much easier and the end result is better.
Justice has decided, almost 12 years later, that neither you nor the rest of CC councilors did anything illegal by extending the tow truck service contract in 2011. Does a weight lift off?
Being subjected to a judicial process for 12 years is always unpleasant, both from a personal and family point of view. Perhaps this last section is the one that hurts the most. Seeing your family worried and distraught for almost 12 years I don’t wish it on anyone. I always had full confidence in justice because it was always clear to me that we were innocent and that, therefore, we were going to be acquitted. With a clear conscience, with our proven honesty, now it’s time to turn the page and continue working with great enthusiasm and desire, but above all calmly. Seeing my family happy gives me strength to face new challenges for the future and continue working for La Orotava, for Tenerife and for the Canary Islands.
He is on his way to a decade in the Mayor’s Office and repeats his candidacy. Is there a limit to his career as mayor?
In November 2023, as long as we win the elections and I continue to be mayor, I will be ten years in charge of the Mayor’s Office of La Orotava. If this is so, it will be because I have had, together with my team, the support of the citizens through the ballot box. The limits in politics are set by people and personal decisions. As of today, my dream is to be mayor of my town again over the next four years. Nobody knows what will happen after 2027 and I don’t think in such a long term. Each term, together with my party, I assess the political and personal situation and, based on that, decisions are made. Today I feel strong, with a lot of desire, very excited… Looking to the future, time and life itself will tell. I like to work for my town, I like to contribute my grain of sand to develop projects for the future and I like to collaborate in improving the lives of my neighbors. My political future has no expiration date in the short term.
Will we see him doing double in the next elections?
Four years ago I was offered to go on the list at Parliament of the Canary Islands. There are several mayors and several mayors who carry out a magnificent task as deputies in Parliament. Four years ago, I reflected and rejected that proposal. What I have done throughout these eight years is to combine the Mayor’s Office with the vice presidency of the Fecam. If my party, in these months, again offered me to be a deputy for Tenerife, something that is perfectly compatible with continuing to be mayor, I would reflect on it again. If that were the case, he would be the first mayor of La Orotava who is also a deputy. That, without a doubt, would give a leading role to La Orotava and the North that they have never had in Parliament. But for now no decision has been made. We’ll see what happens, for now I’m just a candidate for mayor.
What are your big goals for the next term?
We have several objectives of a social nature, of road communication needs and of a cultural nature. I highlight the reform of the Teobaldo Power Auditorium; the repair of the Altos de La Orotava highway (TF-21), which is also the main access to the National Park; the start-up of a new Municipal Archive, a new study room and a multipurpose room on the site of the old Theater Atlantean. Also in the highlands we have commissioned a project for the construction of a small auditorium in the Manuel de Falla school. Works that we hope to carry out with the collaboration of the Government and the Cabildo.
Are you satisfied with the investments of the Cabildo and the Canarian Government in La Orotava?
It has been a mandate in which all the investments come from the previous mandate, when Fernando Clavijo was President of the Canary Islands and Carlos Alonso, president of the Cabildo. There have been no new investments. I hope this situation will change. We are a municipality of 210 square kilometers, the fifth most populous municipality in Tenerife and the one with the road that is the main access to the Parque Nacional del Teide. The investments of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo do not match the position of La Orotava on the island.
Why isn’t the geriatric work completed?
It has to be executed and financed by the Cabildo, so we are waiting for them to bid. La Orotava donated the 27,000 square meter plot and urbanized the streets. Now it is the Cabildo who has to tender the work, which has a budget of 9 million. I am confident that the work will begin in 2023. It is very necessary and a historical debt with La Orotava and with the North.
When will the last phase of TF-21 start?
The project is finished and throughout the 2023-2027 mandate, the collaboration agreement between the Cabildo and the City Council must be signed. Subsequently, it is necessary to begin with the expropriations and begin the work, whose cost is around 40 million euros. It will last several years because of how complex it is, but it is very necessary for the safety of the inhabitants of the eight neighborhoods of the highlands.
And the reform of the auditorium?
The project is practically finished, it will cost around 6 million euros and will be financed between the Cabildo and the City Council. If there are no problems, the work will be tendered in 2023 and will be carried out in 2024 and 2025. With a capacity for a thousand people, it will be the great auditorium of the North.
Will the hull variant be a route of regional interest?
If we want this work to be carried out, it must be a road of regional interest and, in addition, it must enter into future road agreements with the Government of Spain. It would be the great access to the National Park and will allow us in the medium or long term to pedestrianize the town.
Is there any progress with the Bencomo caves?
We are still in talks with the property. Our intention is to buy the land to access the caves. Once acquired, the Canarian Government has promised to carry out the adaptation works. The third phase would be to convert the Humboldt viewpoint into a large Humboldt-Bencomo Interpretation Center.
Should the possibility of the tunnel between La Victoria and Candelaria be studied to end the queues of the TF-5?
This project is currently part of political fiction. I don’t see it in the medium-long term, I think there are other priorities. Now, in the future, you never know. What I am sure of is that neither we, nor our children and grandchildren, will see that work carried out.
