The La Laguna City Council has presented this Thursday the “Recover La Laguna” project, which plans to build a floodplain park in the municipality to recover “its history and natural heritage“.
He mayor of the town, Luis Yeray Gutiérrezhas explained in a press conference before the media that this project arises from the “possibility” of expanding the city “in a sustainable way”, thus recovering the wetland that it had in the past.
Said work, in addition to “providing the town with natural services”, will solve the problem of flooding and will also serve as a leisure space, as detailed by the mayor.
For his part, the Minister of Ecological Transition of the Government of the Canary Islands – the entity that subsidizes, for the most part, the initiative -, José Antonio Valbuena, has indicated that this idea will mean “benefits for the hydraulic environment” and for the recovery of species animals and vegetables.
In this way, a plot of 33,000 square meters will be taken, the last not built in the municipality that represents the location where during the 16th century the original lagoon existed, “at the gates of the town”, to house “a natural environment”.
Likewise, Valbuena has indicated that due to the “importance” of La Laguna for the Canary Islands, the project will be declared of regional interest, which is “the icing on the cake” to consolidate the declaration of the city as a World Heritage Site.
“The objective is that we can see a wetland, and in the background, the Torre de la Concepción, the same image that our ancestors observed,” stressed the counselor.
But, beyond its natural interest, the work, as explained by the manager of the Teidagua company, Félix de Armas, will contribute to “taking control over what happens” in this wetland.
In this sense, the works plan to “prepare” the area so that the water infiltrates the subsoil, thus preventing flooding.
For the implementation of “Recover La Laguna”, the regional government has allocated a total budget of 3 million euros, a figure that includes the amount allocated to the purchase of land, an expense that, in this case, corresponds to by the council.
On this, Gutiérrez has advanced that “there is already confirmation from the owners”, in the absence of ratifying the agreement, and has communicated that the duration of the construction will be communicated “soon”.
However, it has confirmed that this year 2023 will be used for “administrative issues”.
With this new floodable park, La Laguna “will not only be the first open city in the Canary Islands”, but also “a pioneer in allocating urban land for a higher interest: biodiversity”, Valbuena concluded.
