the little one santo domingo beachin the municipality of the guancha, turns 13 closed due to risk of landslides. Officially no one has been able to access this cove since 2010, which is a loss for fishermen, bathers and residents of a town that has little access to the sea. Despite the fact that the problems with the landslides began in 2007these 16 years have not been enough for the public administrations involved to install protective meshes that prevent rockfall, as has been done at various points on the TF-5 or on the beaches of Socorro, in The Realejosand The Bollulloin La Orotava.
The reopening of this beach, which is also a point of reference for authorized underwater fishing, is one of the main demands of the residents of the lower area of La Guancha and the town hall itself, which fight since 2015 for a solution to be foundwith the intervention of the Cabildo de Tenerife and Costas.
New CC proposal
The PP tried unsuccessfully in July 2021 and is now the CC-PNC Nationalist Group in the Council of Tenerife the one that tries to involve the insular administration so that from the tourism commission «the path started in favor of the recovery of Santo Domingo beachurging the competent administrations to issue the corresponding Costas report and, at the same time, lead the project from the Cabildo de Tenerife next to the Town Hall of La Guancha and its neighbors».
The former insular president and CC-PNC spokesman, Carlos Alonsorecalls that «in 2016 the signing of a collaboration agreement between the Cabildo and the City Council of La Guancha took place, with Antonio Hernandez (PP) as mayor, to carry out the second phase of the slope stabilization and sanitation project. During the signing of the agreement, the vice president and councilor of Municipal Cooperation was also present Aurelio Abreu (PSOE)since his area then assumed this project».
Investment of 180,000 euros
«It had an execution period of 14 months, which included different preliminary studies, the stabilization of the slope and the placement of dynamic barriers, and starting with a budget of 180,000 euros, the Island Corporation contributed close to 95%, and the rest, the City Council. At the beginning of 2019, after a meeting at the Cultural Center of the neighborhood attended by the neighborhood community of the area, the Cabildo reached the commitment to undertake the pertinent technical studies with the idea that, after the completion of the conditioning of the slopes, the The next phase would be to condition the rest of the beach environment, with the necessary approval of the Coastal service», highlights Alonso.
As a result of these meetings, the former president points out that “a preliminary draft was drawn up. However, Costas who left the project paralyzed in Madrid. And the reality is that to date no progress has been made and the beach is still closed, while the residents continue to wait to recover the use and enjoyment of their coast. This project, which would once again give access to the only beach in La Guancha, He has been waiting for years for a response from the Government of Spain. However, in July 2022 the agreement for the transfer of Coasts to the Government of the Canary Islands was signed, which became effective from January 1, 2023. «So we are facing a new opportunity to resume the path that began in 2016 », judgment CC.
Problems since 2007
The problems with the small beach of Santo Domingo, in La Guancha, began in 2007, when the first rockfalls on the slopes that surround it set off the first alarm lights. However, the decision to officially close this northern cove came at the beginning of 2010, shortly after the death of two people due to a landslide on Los Guíos beach, in Santiago del Teide, on November 1, 2009. Since then, work has been carried out very slowly to execute a project to secure the unstable slopes. The first phase of these works ended in January 2016, but work on a second slope was pending, which also presents a risk of landslides. In May 2018, the Cabildo de Tenerife and the Guanchero City Council signed an agreement worth 180,000 euros to launch a second phase of the works that has not allowed the definitive reopening 13 years later either.
