The cliché of the rivers of ink regarding the port project for Puerto de la Cruz falls short if we consider that this has been talked and written about for centuries. What’s more, the threats, models presented, advertisements, headlines and a lot of empty rhetoric have increased the most absolute skepticism among a good part of the local population, in the north of Tenerife and the Island, and any supposed novelty is taken with great caution or, rather, coldness and disbelief. In fact, the phrase “not even my grandchildren will see that” has been established and will surely not weaken even if the Tenerife Cabildo has included a million euros to update the projects and plans in the 2024 budget, already approved.
However, this fact and the position of the island Government should give some optimism, although, immediately, the mayor appreciates the financial commitment, but remembers that the environmental report is needed that will indicate what can or cannot be done, while returning to propose that the category of the port is not insular to involve the regional government, to be able to claim funds from other administrations and that ships with passengers can be contemplated, although then the type of ships for that purpose should be well defined.
The vice president of the Cabildo, Minister of Tourism and former Portuense mayor, Lope Afonso (PP), told DIARIO DE AVISOS yesterday that what they intend with the million euros allocated in the island budget for next year is to demonstrate that the port for the tourist city is not limited to “intentions, but they are realities.” Afonso, who in his vice-presidency includes the powers over Strategic Projects, emphasizes that the desired port for his municipality falls into that category “and this is how it already appears in this island direction of Strategic Projects created in this mandate.”
Furthermore, and with that million to be executed from next January 1, he insists that he wants to “update all the studies related to this project because this port is a priority objective of the island government for this mandate. For this reason, we will soon contact the Port City Council to administratively draw up the roadmap for the port.”
On the contrary, and as explained by the mayor, Marco González (PSOE), “it is key to recover the Government of the Canary Islands in the equation and that the category of the port is not only insular, since, if so, we will not be able to request money from other administrations. The port project that is in the current administrative procedure has everything to achieve everything, although what happens next is something else. What I have always asked, of all parties, whether in the government or in the opposition, is that we be very sincere with the people. This is a project that has been desired for decades, in fact, for centuries to recover commercial and maritime activity through the port, and we are not going to give up on this, but what the environmental study determines is not decided by us, the local administration, but technicians”.
DEADLINES AND ESPLANADE
Regarding the deadlines, yes, he warns that, “if the procedure continues to drag on in time and does not have phases, we are going to act, because we cannot continue without improving the parking area of the esplanade and accessibility, given that we hope for projects or plans that, in terms of preparation and approval, sometimes take up to decades.” For this reason, he emphasizes that “work must be carried out in this mandate on the esplanade because this space does not depend only on the port and, when the technical tool comes out, it will have to be done in phases to be able to continue with the cultural activity or the current fair of Christmas we have. It is an area that we cannot give up because, if not, we will not have this area to energize the city.”
For González, “a different roadmap is needed from the failed one of 2016, which I assumed for supporting the island Government (CC and PSOE), although it hid procedures and, in reality, the port infrastructure did not have an urban planning tool. It was not necessary to start with commitments, headlines or a roadmap and signatures, but with having administrative procedures that correspond to the possibility of executing this project or any other. There was a lot of debate then, but without knowing what could be done. For this reason, now we need a roadmap, perhaps less ambitious than the one then.”
In this sense, he considers that it has happened in a way that simulates what happened with the San Francisco park, “because an ideas contest was held in 2015, in 2017 something else was done and, until it was dismantled, it was not seen. well what there is. Things – he emphasizes – have to start at the foundation, not at the roof. This financial commitment of one million is very good, but we must give way to the administrative procedures as they are established and the first thing is to approve the annex to the PMM (Port Improvement and Modernization Plan) so that the possibility of this tool exists.”
The top local leader recalls that, in 2022, with the consolidated texts, “we already had news of the economic viability study, which is positive, and of the start of the necessary environmental impact study of that infrastructure because, in reality, it What is in the administrative procedure is what we have called the annex of that PMM, which is what urbanistically articulates the port infrastructure, the transfer of the Peñón soccer field and, especially, the insular water sports center. None of these three pieces were included in the planning and that is what there is until now. For this reason, in my last conversation with the island president (Rosa Dávila, CC) I asked her for the technicians to update her so that, shortly, I could share how the procedure is going.”
Despite that million, he considers that “that financial statement cannot advance the studies much further because technically absolutely nothing can be started. That money is a commitment so that the fidelity that exists regarding this opportunity remains latent, but the procedure must be completed to then make decisions, since I am not an environmental technician and I do not know what the study is going to say. I have had conversations and I have seen some of the work of the ULL, but it is not up to the council to make a statement. We are talking about decades-long projects and this, on a technical scale, needs revisions.”
What he has even more doubts about is the involvement of the regional government. “What may be a mirage is that someone from the Executive of the Canary Islands wants to talk about the port because of the additional provision that was approved with the Land Law, and that the CC and PP supported – since I asked the PSOE to withdraw its support – , lowers the category of the port so that the developer was insular. That required going to a different level and one of the competencies that is the desire and intention of all administrations was lost: transportation with passengers, without mentioning which passengers, but it was a necessity. However, the island ports do not have that competence and we must begin, even if it is a little talk, by trying to modify the category so that we can request aid from other administrations, since, if not, only the Cabildo will be able to invest money.
For this argument, the mayor insists that “this is decided with technical and environmental realities, not with political will. When they speak out with the report, when that tool is available, we will adopt our decisions and transfer them to the Cabildo and the regional Government, since we believe that the regional Executive must be recovered.”
Furthermore, he clarifies that the uses of the exploitation plot must be established and that the political will that is now being reactivated “is all of us. Pedro Martín had it and we took steps to generate the annex of the PMM or the environmental body as our own means to order it, but nothing can be done without the technical tool.”
A longing of centuries that contrasts with Garachico and Fonsalía
The current dock of the Port had a starring role in the past, especially since the eruption of 1706 affected the port of Garachico and the weight of trade shifted to the Orotava Valley. The port infrastructure was also key in the Canarian migration to America and had great relevance in the fishing industry and exports until the beginning of the 20th century, although the focus had already moved to the port of Santa Cruz.
Since then, since its decline began (nuanced by the tourist boom of the city since the 60s, a Spanish reference for mass tourism, although always with its own idiosyncrasy established for centuries), voices have been raised in search of a new port that would recover the splendor of yesteryear and strengthen tourism.
The headlines, demands, advertisements, projects and even models, like that of Marcos Brito from 2003, continued. Before, since the Franco regime and the first democratic corporations, there had already been a lot of speculation about what to do on the esplanade, the size of the dam and whether or not boats with passengers should fit. The island’s Ports Councilor, Lorenzo Dorta, advised Brito to discard the most ambitious project and, like Garachico, opt for a more humble one. However, he insisted and thus the current impasse has been reached, although in the middle there were demonstrations, platforms and many promises. Of course, unlike the port of Fonsalía, no one ever completely gave up on this one.
