One of the most degraded places in Candelaria, the old hotel Tenerife Tourclosed since 2011, will give way to an expansion area of Las Caletillas, made up of a residential part and a commercial part, which includes a Mercadona supermarket and what most interests candle holders: the prolongation of the promenade, with a plaza and a terrace as a viewpoint.
The plenary meeting on February 23 took cognizance of the Tenerife Tour SA Action Program on the Urban Environment and the request for a strategic environmental assessment report from the environmental assessment body of the Government of the Canary Islands. The project presented by the two businessmen contemplates the elimination of the swimming pools and the execution of the prolongation of the promenade in the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain area, which will be financed and executed by the promoting company.
From the government group, the mayoress, Mari Brito, values this initiative very positively, with which this maritime-terrestrial public domain area is integrated and recovered for citizens with the construction of a square with spaces for resting, staying, viewpoint and solarium, continuing with the promenade allowing access and public use to the coast. A promenade that will be developed by replacing the built urban facades with pedestrian public spaces open to all.
In the private area, the building plan will be renovated and new commercial uses will be created, as well as recreational spaces, with the aim of revaluing the area that is currently abandoned and in disuse.
The Municipal Technical Office has been working in recent years to achieve the best possible project for the area, reconciling the particular interest of the promoters and the general interest of the citizenry to recover this area of the municipality for the use and enjoyment of all. Now, once the plenary is informed, it will be transferred to the Government of the Canary Islands and the environmental evaluation report will be requested.
The Tenerife Tour hotel was abandoned to its fate in 2011, after its owners, the Rueda Varela family, closed it due to its obvious deterioration and the low profitability that they obtained from what was once one of the icons of tourist Las Caletillas, after opening in 1966.
Today, that emblematic installation in the form of small bungalows that are staggered to the coast, is a nest of rats, a dump, where remains of drugs or occasional squatters can be seen, some of which have caused more than one fire, as they have alerted the residents of the nearby urbanizations, who have cried out for abandonment, when they have knocked on the door of the City Hall. “We can’t do anything, it’s private property,” they responded from the Consistory.
The City Council forced the property to be fenced off, but days later there is nothing to prevent easily entering what used to be the hotel pools, which are not private property, but Costas’. Some swimming pools, by the way, that were offered to the corporation for an annual concession of 60,000 euros that was not accepted, because it did not include the floor of the cafeteria and bathrooms, property of the hotel establishment.
Since it closed in 2011, the Tenerife Tour has been deteriorating in such a way that it has become a serious health and image problem for Las Caletillas, in particular, and for the municipality of Candelaria, in general, remaining a great tome between Avenida Marítima, which starts from Punta Larga, Paseo de Graciliano and Charco de Genaro, which are currently being rehabilitated within the Tenerife and the Sea project, promoted by the Cabildo.
