He Council of Tenerife has prohibited parking in the surroundings of the Humboldt Lookouton both sides of the TF-21 highway, in La Orotava, due to small stones falling from the hillside and damaging vehicles.
It is an emblematic enclave and much visited by tourists who come to the island for the spectacular views of the Valley of La Orotava. After being closed for more than six years, the Town Hall recovered the property in September 2020 and carried out maintenance and cleaning tasks that have allowed this space to reopen its doors from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
“From the Cabildo we have asked the City Council to act to minimize these risks, but it argues that they are parked on an island road and, therefore, it is not their responsibility to attend to the patrimonial responsibility and pay for the damages caused by the falls of those stones”, explains the insular director of the area, Tomás Félix García.
On the contrary, it maintains that it is the Consistory that must locate the owners of that land and that they adopt the appropriate measures to prevent landslides, “or that the City Council act ex officio to minimize these risks.” The measure is temporary and will be maintained “until the City Council solves the problems of landslides in the plots adjoining the road and then use could be restored in an orderly manner”, clarifies the director.
Asked about the number of claims that the Cabildo de Tenerife has received in this regard, he points out that “it is enough that one arrives and the Court considers it, to adopt this measure.”
As this newspaper learned, the Island Corporation has been ordered to compensate an individual for the amount of 763.78 euros for the damage suffered to his vehicle in June 2020, in addition to imposing costs, while the same sentence acquits the City Council villero.
responsibility
of the council
In this sense, the Councilor for Land Management and Planning and Security, Narciso Pérez, maintains that the road is owned by the island and, therefore, the Cabildo is the administration in charge of adopting the measures it deems necessary to guarantee security in route. “When the roads pass through urban sections, it is true that the City Council has to act, but, in this case, it is an island road and it is the Island Administration that has to urge the owners or coordinate with the City Council the possible measures to be adopted “, Add.
In this regard, he blames those responsible for the Cabildo for not having transferred or agreed on this measure with the Consistory. “We found out about that ban by seeing the ban discs placed. No one from the Highway area contacted us ”, insists the mayor. However, “since they do not see fit to sit down with the City Council, we will try to set up a meeting as soon as possible,” says Narciso Pérez.
