Jose Julian Mena He has lived through the most convulsive mandate, but he has known how to resist and recover to turn the situation around and once again lead the PSOE candidacy for Mayor of Arona, for which he asks his neighbors for “an indisputable majority to place Arona where it deserves, as the capital of the South and as the economic engine of Tenerife. So that we can be heard loud and clear.”
How do you explain what happened in this mandate in Arona?
Arona is a very important municipality. It is the capital of the South and its potential for development and importance is extraordinary. And that inevitably attracts the attention and interest of very powerful forces. Interests outside the policy, who want to exert pressure and influence for their interests. These groups are interested in controlling political power. When they can’t do it, when they run into a mayor and a party that put the future of their people above all else, they try to remake the result of the elections by any means: in the corridors, in the offices, in operations of attrition media, in political conspiracies… It is obvious that there are those who want to turn back the clock hands of Arona eight years ago and return it to a situation of multi-pacts and shared mayors. Arona can’t afford to back down. That is why I ask the residents to support a strong Arona that continues to advance as the capital of the South.
Have you felt mistreated?
For people like me it is easier to change religion than party or ideology. I think I have been consistent at all times. To continue in politics I had more options, but I fought to defend my rights in the PSOE and got them to agree with me with the intention of presenting myself as a candidate. No fear of democracy. There are those who prefer to be placed by hand: not me. Time, justice and militancy proved me right; They have not been able to with me, and now it is time for the polls to speak.
With what objectives do you face the next elections?
Arona has her most important years ahead of her. We have started the sanitation and sewerage, action units and situations such as Ten Bel are beginning to be unlocked. Hotel renovation is a fact. It is the time of the General Planning Plan (PGO), of having new institutes, health centers in Las Galletas and Los Cristianos, normalized mobility, with the burying of roads at the accesses to Los Cristianos… And, of course, the living place. We are a metropolitan area like Santa Cruz-La Laguna and the engine economic of Tenerife. My neighbors have the same right to access quality public services.
What do you ask of your neighbors?
An indisputable majority that places Arona where it deserves, as the capital of the South and as the economic engine of Tenerife. So that we can be heard loud and clear. The PSOE and this mayor not only have the only project for Arona, but the best. You have to mobilize the 28M and stop dead one of the dirtiest and most desperate campaigns I’ve seen. Nobody has a program. Everything revolves around the PSOE.
If you have to agree, do you mark any red lines?
I don’t see that scenario. Humbly, a majority is possible and, above all, necessary.
What are your challenges for the coming term?
Complete the PGO and the sanitation network, a new asphalt plan, fight for the health centers of Las Galletas and Los Cristianos and see the portfolio of services of the Hospital del Sur grow. I don’t want our people to always have to travel to La Candelaria. The burying of the accesses to Los Cristianos, the sports center and swimming pool of Cabo Blanco, the beach of Los Tarajales, the promenade and the beach of Las Galletas, the Casa del Mar for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s therapies in Los Cristianos or the point of early detection of sexually transmitted diseases…
What does your municipality need in educational infrastructure?
Our schools and institutes are overcrowded. They have twice as many students as 20 years ago and almost the same infrastructure. The new IES of Parque La Reina will put an end to the barracks of the IES of Guaza, but it is not enough. We need four centers for subdivisions: Cho, Los Cristianos and El Fraile. That’s what we ask of Education.
And in health matters?
The South Hospital is essential. We aspire to have a public hospital of the highest level, comparable to La Candelaria or HUC. The South and the islands of the province deserve it and have sufficient population. We need dialysis, oncology or major surgery patients to be able to be cared for in the South and not have to go to Santa Cruz. We have made a lot of progress in the Las Galletas health center, where there is an office that is maintained by the City Council, despite the fact that it is not their responsibility. And, in Los Cristianos, a health center to match. Years ago land was ceded to Health next to the School of Languages and it has not been done.
And as for sanitation?
In Arona we suffer from spills and we also do not have a sewage system. It’s incredible in the 21st century, but no one ever seriously considered it. State works are already underway for a value of more than 60 million euros, to which the municipal part will have to be added to complete some 80 million that will make it possible to have sewerage and purify water in Montaña Reverón, eliminating outfalls in Palm Mar and The cookies.
How can the housing problem in the South be solved?
It is neither possible nor sustainable that in an area as prosperous as the South, people cannot have a life project. With a salary of just over a thousand euros, how can you pay rents of 800? Years ago I defended that there were no vacation rentals outside the tourist area to prevent prices from skyrocketing. We have given ground to canarian government to build public housing and the intention is to give up more, after approving the PGO, to cover at least the demand of 800 people in Arona. One of the clearest things that I have, along with my team, is that the wealth generated by tourism has to be felt in the lives of the neighbors. Otherwise, if tourism is seen as an obstacle to access to rights such as housing, we are going to experience harsh episodes of tourismophobia. Tourism has contributed a lot to Canary Islands. But the economy is at the service of the people.
Will the tails of the TF-1 end?
We have been enduring, hoping and trusting for decades. It is not a problem now. Arona and the South have doubled their population, but have the same infrastructure as many years ago. Burying the entrance and exit routes of Los Cristianos, acting in the Guaza area or creating a direct lane from the TF-1 to access and exit the Hospital del Sur are absolutely essential actions.
How important is the El Mojón plan for Arona?
The partial plan of El Mojón is the opportunity for Arona to transform and modernize tourism, commercial and residential. A train that missed 23 years ago. Neither 4, nor 10 nor 20 years ago we had reached this point: that the owners of the land have accepted the reception agreement proposed by municipal technicians. From now on, the City Council will sign that agreement this month and, once the legal deadlines have expired, the first licenses can be granted, while the municipality receives the two large parks and the plot for cultural use. One million square meters of land, one billion euros in investment and thousands of jobs. All with light and stenographers.
Does Arona have the insular weight it deserves?
Arona is the capital of the South and the South is the economic capital of Tenerife. However, his voice and weight do not correspond to that reality. We cannot have a population that doubles that of 20 years ago with the same infrastructures. I have tried these years to raise my voice in defense, not only of my municipality, but of the entire region. And I’ll continue doing it. Arona and the South need to be heard loud and clear. And that is why I ask for your resounding support on May 28.