In 2012, the Garachico General Planning Plan (PGO) was published, an essential planning document to achieve the necessary balance between the location of population centers and activities in the territory and their effective protection to achieve sustainable development. .
However, the plan leaves the historic center as an island because this area has to be governed by a specific general protection plan, as established by law 11/2019, of April 25, on Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands for historic complexes. -artistic.
In its article 36, said regulations indicate that the historical complexes of the Canary Islands, “as representative units of the evolutionary process of a certain community, must be protected and conserved taking into account their peculiar cultural heritage values, prohibiting those interventions that introduce elements that devalue their values. and historical physiognomy”.
Thus, its organization and management will be established through the formulation of a special protection plan, which must be prepared by the corresponding city council in accordance with criteria that guarantee its preservation. This obligation will be maintained even when there is another territorial or urban planning instrument that regulates its scope.
This plan has not been able to move forward due to different circumstances. There were steps for its preparation and approval and several frustrated attempts, such as the one in 2010, in which it was put on public display but did not receive approval to continue moving forward despite the importance of having this document.
Greater municipal autonomy
Now, a subsidy from the Cabildo de Tenerife will finally make possible its final draft so that Garachico has an essential and decisive urban planning instrument for the conservation and development of the town. In addition, it will serve to have a certain autonomy in management because it will allow the City Council to appoint a local Historical Heritage Commission “which will be the body competent to report on the licenses that are given and will allow some flexibility when handling urban planning issues,” he emphasizes. the mayor of the municipality, José Heriberto González.
The subsidy, already contemplated in the island budget, amounts to 270,000 euros, to which another 30,000 euros will be added from the municipal coffers, since for the Government group (CC-PSOE) this action is one of its priorities.
“Obviously, let no one think otherwise, this plan will be informed in great detail by the Historical Heritage Commission of the Cabildo, which is the one that grants the subsidy so that the future licenses that are given have the entire environment of legality and protection.” that deserves a historical complex like that of the Villa and Puerto,” adds the councilor.
Right now, those granted in this area of the Town and Port are made in accordance with the mandatory reports of the Island Corporation and those offered by the City Council, “but the ideal is to have a Special Protection Plan because, in addition to preserving all “The historical and artistic values of the historic complex also reflect the growth that the Town and Port may have, which will not be much.”
Furthermore, according to the mayor, this document will provide greater legal security to the owners of properties in the town who are currently governed by subsidiary regulations, which date back to 1994, and then the Historical Heritage Commission has to rule on each project.
By having an updated and current urban planning instrument, all buildings that are cataloged will have an individual file that stipulates what can be done in each of them and what must be protected, whether the entire property or just a part, from the same. In addition, it will try to legalize the situation of many homes that do not comply with the planning approved almost three decades ago.
The first steps in the preparation of the special plan were taken by the public company Gesplan, but the municipal government “will have to assess whether or not to put the document out to tender and with whom to do it,” says José Heriberto González. However, this decision will be made once the Council’s budget is approved and comes into effect. “From that moment on we can start working, although we already have quite a few things advanced,” the councilor says.
One of the most important sets
The municipality of Garachico has one of the most important historical and artistic complexes in the Archipelago. Due to its commercial splendor until the volcanic eruption of May 5, 1706, the town center stands out for the existence of numerous buildings of historical and architectural value that have earned it being declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). Among them, the convent of San Francisco, the house of the Marquis of the Quinta Roja or the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception stand out, to name just a few examples.
In this sense, González is clear about the main challenges he faces with the writing of this document and they involve ensuring that the historical complex has the conservation it deserves and, above all, future growth is reflected.
“We cannot have fluctuations in where we have to walk, whether in one direction or another. Garachico does not have many possibilities for growth because not everything has to grow urbanly, we want to have an adequate population with a quality of life. The challenges are to protect, but also to ensure that growth is harmonious and what the times require,” highlights the president.
“This Government continues to commit to building the funicular”
The municipal government continues to commit to building a funicular in the Town and Port, a guided public transport system that, in addition to connecting the most remote middle-distance centers of the municipality such as San Juan del Reparo and Genovés, will serve as a tourist attraction. This funicular would work through a rack system with counterweights and therefore does not require any fuel, which would not have an environmental and visual impact and would guarantee environmental protection and sustainability. The arrival or departure area would be located in the historic complex and therefore the future plan must contemplate this transportation system that will facilitate the communication of the upper and lower areas of Garachico since the TF-421 highway has been in operation for more than 40 years. Public transport was eliminated due to its danger.
