The public car park in the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz lacks accessibility. For years, the capital’s City Council, through the Public Services area, has been demanding that the concessionaire undertake the work required to install an elevator that allows people with reduced mobility to access the car park safely, without having to do it by the same ramp that the cars do. After a long process, the area directed by Carlos Tarife has proceeded to impose a first fine for this non-compliance, although the amount of it, 60 euros, is totally “shameful” as Tarife himself admits. “It is the amount that is included in the specifications for a serious breach, which at that time (in the 1990s) was set at 10,000 pesetas, something completely incomprehensible and truly shameful,” laments the also first deputy mayor of Santa Cruz.
Some specifications that, as Tarife explained, “also include that after the third sanction of a very serious nature, the concession can be rescued and that is what we plan to do.” The concession of this car park ends in 2025, the date on which the management will be rescued, “but if the imposition of sanctions is completed before that date, that concession will also be rescued before,” said Tarife.
So beyond the “ridiculous” amount of the penalty, the objective of these files is none other than to be able to rescue the concession as soon as possible. “In the 21st century, as a city, we are not going to allow a car park like that to continue without an elevator.” The mayor admitted that once the concession is redeemed, that is, when it passes into public hands, he will allow the Santa Cruz City Council to build the elevator, thus making the parking lot accessible.
The installation of an elevator has been requested since 2011, the date on which the concessionaire contacted the City Council to find out the feasibility of installing the aforementioned elevator after the works of the Urban Zone first and of the Vía Litoral later eliminated the pedestrian ramps of access that the car park had. In 2016 the construction of the elevator was authorized and in 2017 the concessionaire came to present a work project, in which it valued the cost at 191,512 euros, which it later reduced to 147,080. A year later, Interparking (current concessionaire) came to communicate the start of the works, but reported that a series of inconveniences made the project more expensive, some modifications that did not obtain municipal support.
In 2020, the Public Services area stands up and requires the company to prove the start of the works, a decision that was appealed by the concessionaire that continued to demand compensation. The last step has been the imposition of the fine.
