The serene and seafaring beauty of Santillana del Mar and San Vicente de la Barquera, the pleasure of trying Santoña anchovies or the possibility of strolling through the quiet streets of the capital, Santander, full of tradition and with the Cantabrian Sea in the background. All this, and much more, is Cantabria. A destination that is now closer than ever for the elderly from Tenerife. They are the applicants to cover the thousand places offered in the new social tourism campaign of the Cabildo de Tenerife to travel to what will be the first route on the Peninsula after the restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic. The Island Corporation and the 23 municipalities –of the 31 on the Island– that have confirmed their participation in the program met yesterday to finalize the details of the new call, which will go out to tender for a global amount of 750,000 euros.
The insular president, Pedro Martín, highlights that it is the first time after the pandemic that trips to the Peninsula have been resumed to “offer a vacation respite and an activity with which to improve their quality of life to all the elderly in Tenerife with resources limited, especially to those who by themselves do not have the means to be able to carry out this type of trip.
The Social Tourism program, in collaboration with the municipalities, will have 1,000 places this year for older people with a lower level of income can travel to Cantabria and enjoy a few days off. This was agreed in the work meeting held between the insular area of Social Action with representatives of the 23 municipalities.
Between July and October
The forecast is that this service can go out to tender shortly, with a view to making trips between the months of July and October. The initial budget for this program is 750,000 euros. It will be financed by the Cabildo, through the Institute of Social and Socio-Health Care (IASS), the municipalities and the participating people, who will be asked to pay a percentage of the cost of the stay.
In this context, the third vice-president and Minister of Social Action, Marián Franquet, adds that “with the purpose of facilitating access for people with fewer economic resources, from the Cabildo we are going to make an additional economic effort to make the cost as cheap as possible cost they must bear. In this way, she emphasizes, “we are going to allow this resource to reach a greater number of people who really need it.”
It is the first time after the pandemic that trips to the Peninsula are resumed
Marián Franquet points out that the program Social Tourism is part of the activities with which the Cabildo seeks to create meeting spaces for people over 65 years of age.that favor active aging and their social integration».
The counselor recalls that in 2022 the Cabildo reactivated the program, after the suspension due to the pandemic, although limiting its development to domestic tourism stays to guarantee the safety of all participants.
So, in August of last year, the Council of Tenerifethrough the Institute of Social and Socio-Health Care (IASS), made public the bases that would govern the internal tourism program thanks to which 576 people over 65 years of age with limited resources were able to access leisure and cultural activities from an integrating perspective in different points of the Island. What was done was to move people from the south of Tenerife to the north and vice versa.
We are going to make an additional economic effort to reduce the cost as much as possible
Social Tourism is a very important collaborative project, in which 23 of the 31 municipalities of Tenerife participate this year, and in which the distribution of places has been carried out taking into account the percentage of the population over 64 years of age in each municipality, as well as the registered demand for places registered in previous editions of the program.
a desired destination
Regarding the chosen destination, the manager of the IASS, Yazmina de León, explains that it was the older people themselves who chose Cantabriaa place that also meets the conditions of connectivity, accessibility and services necessary to carry out this type of activity.
Between the requirements that the beneficiaries must meet, who will be selected by the participating town halls, must be over 65 years of age or at least reach that age during the calendar year in which the trip is made, have been registered in the municipality for three years and not exceed certain income.
The local administration must always give priority to family units with fewer financial resources and to people who have not participated in the previous edition of the program. Like almost everything after three years of restrictions, absolute normality returns to the Social Tourism program of the Cabildo de Tenerife. Destination Cantabria.
