Defender of tourism as a source to finance basic public services and infrastructures and/or demanded by citizens, he wants progress in its relationship with the average through what he defines as “transfer of values” and warns that the municipality with more companies per inhabitant of Spain (5,000) has to move towards excellence.
Does he show up at municipal elections for the last time?
Don’t know. Time will tell. My horizon now is the next four years.
What is planned for that period?
Consolidate some of the lines in which we work and that have to do with the ecological and digital transition and the smart tourist destination; improving the social offer, expanding the center for the elderly, improving the home care service, healthy support, leisure and active ageing; increase the university presence in Adeje as a relevant element for training, talent and employability and reconfigure the space and the provision of infrastructures that promote the transfer of value, so that tourism provides resources and possibilities to develop the cultural, sports offer , gastronomy and small business initiatives to improve the conditions of entrepreneurs. In addition to contributing and improving our cultural, natural and intangible heritage. All this is articulated in projects that we have to structure, in a cohesive way, the neighborhoods and the old town, minimizing the differences to configure a small city, something that is possible in Adeje.
Does the false tunnel of the Playa de Playa de The Americas to Fanabe?
It will help us very much. The TF-1 crosses the tourist city cut in a section with 12 accesses, which complicates mobility in the area. This project will allow urban traffic to develop in that area and unload the highway.
The current Adeje compared to the one he took over in 1987 is not known by the mother who gave birth to him…
Neither the mother who gave birth to him nor me. The key is in the creative capacity to face a social, economic, cultural transformation and of all kinds in a short period of time. We went from a very harsh system of export agriculture to a tertiary society, with a recognized and recognizable tourist destination in the world, in the world! The City Council has played its role, but it has also been made possible by a committed business community that has taken risks and workers who knew how to readapt and respond. A set of policies have allowed us to get to where we are in a short time and a process without major traumas. As one of the fundamental objectives, we continue working so that this process continues in a human, not an economic key, in a space of coexistence, tolerance, respect and opportunities. This line of work must be strengthened.
Looks like he’s getting through four very unique years well…
Everything has happened to us and without an instruction manual. Thomas Cook fell and it seemed like the world was ending, the covid came and that seemed silly to us. I’ll take the good part: that we show ourselves and the world our ability to solve problems and unite to solve critical situations, as a society and as a tourist destination. We closed a hotel with a thousand people inside, but we came out on top, we valued jobs that we gave little importance to and we recognized interdependence.
How does the PSOE to these elections?
I perceive a very good vibe, as they say now. But we will see how this can be channeled into votes on the 28th. We present ourselves with dignity, I think we have responded, that we have continued to consolidate and shape a social reality based on tourism. We take care of tourism because without tourism there are no resources and without resources services, schools, cleanliness will not improve… I believe a lot in tourism because I have lived through both stages and this is the one that has produced freedom, opportunities and equality. Improvable? Undoubtedly, but the previous one was emigration, misery, abuse, remoteness, oblivion… We take care of tourism because it is the one that generates resources to advance and we have to prevent others from starting to play with things to eat. We are aware that a large part of the weight of the Island is on us, that we are 35% of the GDP. That is a responsibility in terms of employment, economy and everyone. It is a responsibility that we assume with solidarity.
When you hear some people coming to the South and talking about the Hospital, how does your body feel?
What do you want me to say! That historic struggle comes out in fits and starts. But it must be said that it happens when the Socialists govern and I am confident that in the near future the hospital that is needed not by the South, but by the Island and, if you hurry me, the province, will be set up.
With the reference to the controversy generated by the Cuna del Alma project, where is the Adeje tourism model headed?
I have it very clear: it has to be the one that with the minimum cost, including environmental resources, produces the maximum benefit. The key is excellence. We have achieved it in part, but it cannot be stopped because it dies. A balance must be established between what is there and what is new, but, above all, legal guarantees. Cuna del Alma is an exemplary model, super-luxury, adapted to the territory and committed to the local population. I have no personal interest, only that it be a factor that generates wealth and promotes a tourism product that needs to be renewed.
You have created a reference management model.
For a City Council to function and be committed to the citizen, who is the one who maintains it and pays for it, efficiency and friendliness are required. On these two pillars, the Adeje Town Hall is recognized and recognizable.
When 2027 arrives, you will have been in the Mayor’s office for 40 years.
I know what it is to be in the opposition, to govern by agreement without being a mayor, to be a mayor by agreement and with an absolute majority. A system must be established that favors majorities in the municipalities, because in the town halls management and service must prevail, not debate.
How does the region get to these elections?
With expectations of continuing to advance in solutions for mobility, the airport… These are insular issues and, if you hurry me, regional ones in which there is progress, so it would be good for the current governments to continue, because they have a projection of what do and correctly.
