The year that begins brings with it old desires for the north of Tenerife, projects that have been eternalized and that do not end up materializing. That there is health and that the unemployment rate improves are, in general, the main wishes of the mayors of the region. But there are others of a local nature, specific to each municipality, that have become historical, because they have not been able to materialize for decades for different reasons.
Projects that go beyond the political parties that are in charge of the City Council, given that neither of them, whether in the opposition or in the government, have managed to move them forward.
This is the case of the expansion and modernization of the Tacoronte health center or the project to condition the coastal promenade and seafront of El Pris, in the same municipality. In this case, the mayor, Sandra Izquierdo, wishes that they can be finalized throughout this term, along with the approval of a new budget after four years of working with the last one that was carried out in the plenary session and the first List of Positions of Work (RPT) on the history of the Consistory.
Not to mention the Teno and Masca pier projects, which, together with mobility projects, “will make Buenavista a prosperous town full of opportunities. In addition to concluding projects that have been paralyzed over time, such as the municipal cinema and sports infrastructure,” hopes the mayor, Eva García.
The year 2024 is also the year of major projects for the Village according to its councilor, Francisco Linares, of which three must begin their administrative bidding processes and start of expropriations over the next year.
This is the case of those necessary to build the future new highway in the heights of La Orotava, to put out to tender the works of the Teobaldo Power auditorium and those of the new Hospital of the Santísima Trinidad. The three go hand in hand with the Cabildo of Tenerife and have been waiting for at least more than a decade. This is the case of this last property, which had structural deficiencies and had to be evicted and closed in 2013. Since then, users have been waiting at the Hospital del Norte for a social and healthcare space.
In Santa Úrsula, the old cinema theater, closed definitively in 2016, but with almost no programming since before, is beginning to be a reality after the recent approval by the island Government Council of a game of 1.5 million – more than half of financing – to be able to start the works. The mayor, Juan Acosta, hopes that the El Calvario sports center, the second phase of the cemetery, the IES pavilion, Mencey Bencomo park and the Casa del Capitán suffer the same fate this year.
If there is one action that takes the “golden palm” in terms of time, projects, consultations, motions and participation of the administrations, it is the remodeling of San Marcos beach, in Icod de los Vinos.
It is also one of the objectives on which the new Icodenese Alternative Government will focus its attention in the coming year, “once the obstacles that had stopped the execution of this project have been resolved,” says the mayor, Javier Sierra.
The president assures that “a hopeful 2024 is presented in the city of the dragon tree. After these first six months of the change of Government after the 2023 municipal elections, we open a new year with renewed hopes and with our sights set on many projects that will be decisive for the municipality,” he declares.
Now it’s time to look for the missing financing and his team will “work intensely” to do so, but they will also do so on “an integrative project in the neighborhoods to advance the deficiencies that have historically been accumulating and, of course, the approval and implementation implementation of the General Planning Plan (PGO)”. He says that these first months have not been easy, but he is convinced “that 2024 will be the year of opportunities for Icod de los Vinos.”
The same conviction that Marco González has for the city he directs, Puerto de la Cruz. In his opinion, 2024 “will be a great year for the municipality, with new opportunities for employment and wealth for the people of Porto and, consequently, for the region, which will underline the character of the driving force of the North, an indispensable axis in that island balance that we aspire to renew this coming year, with very good expectations also regarding the tourist reserves that the city houses.”
Among the initiatives that he hopes will see the light of day in the new year and that have also been waiting for decades, is the expansion of the Botanical Garden visitor center. The first moves to make it a reality took place in 1991, with the closing of the enclosure, but it was only in May 2007 when work on the visitor pavilion began, considered the most complex part, and has not yet been completed.
The Insular Aquatic Sports Center, Tenerife’s long-awaited swimming pool, closed since 2015 due to damage to the engine room, is the other “big project” that the mayor hopes will be inaugurated over the next 12 months, ” “the result of shared work in recent years and a clear and resounding commitment to the city, its present and its future.”
Added to this desire is also the reopening of several hotels that will have their icing on the cake with the long-awaited reopening of the Gran Hotel Taoro, “a national and regional benchmark in the hospitality industry whose works are advancing unstoppably.” In addition, he adds, the entire opening of the Costa Martiánez Tourist Complex is imminent, a lake that has renovated its engine room in the largest municipal investment in history.
PARKED PROJECTS
Los Realejos also hopes to put out to tender in 2024 the project for the new swimming pool and attached sports complex, for which there is an economic item included in the budget of the Cabildo de Tenerife.
The start of work on the Icod el Alto Sports Center and the rehabilitation of the San Agustín School, with agreements already signed with the insular Corporation, are actions that are expected to be put out to tender in the new year, as is the urban, children’s and sports park in La Longuera, the second phase of the renovation of the Cruz Santa Open Commercial Zone and the construction of the Arrur de Los Príncipes Social Housing.
“We will work hand in hand with the Cabildo to improve the entrance and exit to the municipality through Los Barros and to begin planning a new access road from La Higuerita to San Benito,” declares the mayor, Adolfo González.
His counterpart in El Sauzal, Mariano Pérez, assures that 2023 “has been a bit turbulent” and that is why he asks for tranquility and a lot of peace to continue working for the well-being of the neighbors. Precisely, so that this town “does not miss the boat and continues to be a leader in Tenerife and the Canary Islands”, he considers necessary the work of the La Garañona viewpoint, and to promote the Sierva de Dios amphitheater, in addition to continuing with the actions in the neighborhoods.
Esther Morales, mayor of El Tanque, is clear that the expansion of the nursing home, on which the City Council has been working for some time, is one of her hopes for the new year.
Now newer, and promoted by its government, it hopes that the paragliding track, which will be located in the vicinity of the Lomo Molino viewpoint, will go from project to becoming a reality, because it will promote tourism and, above all, expand the related sports offer to this sport. “And get financing to execute the La Atalaya viewpoint, for which the project has been drawn up,” he adds.
In La Victoria de Acentejo, Juan Antonio Abreu hopes that in 2024 his government will be able to launch the municipal auditorium, finish the underground parking attached to the City Hall and carry out the renovation of the plaza, put out to tender at the end of 2023.
His wishes do not end there, they are broader and include the completion of the General Highway roundabout; the works on the nursery school, “which have been going on for more than 42 years, and continue with the dynamic of progress that the municipality has, also in social projects, reinforced in the budgets,” he maintains.
When it comes to auditoriums, the one in La Guancha is approved and allows the resumption of a “very important” action for the municipality. “Hopefully next year we can see significant progress,” confesses the mayor, Antonio Hernández. He also hopes that the tender for the urbanization outside the swimming pool and the El Roque highway will come out, which is the first of all, because it has been closed for more than a year as a result of excessive bureaucracy, and the improvement of the transportation network water, a problem that the municipality has been dealing with for decades “and that will mean planned cuts in the water supply for some time,” warns the councilor.
Ignacio Rodríguez, mayor of La Matanza de Acentejo, is clear about his wishes, or rather, the wish for the new year: “For this government group, the most important thing is the home for the elderly, seeing it come true is fulfillment. “a vital commitment to our social welfare project.” He refers to the expansion of the facilities, which also involves the construction of a regional rehabilitation center.
ROOKIE MAYORS
Carmen Luz Baso starts this term as mayor of Los Silos. All the projects that she hopes to carry out in the next four years are inherited from previous governments and also include a municipal auditorium, which will be named after Alfonso García Ramos. Added to this are the start of the new health center, the rehabilitation of the Nuestra Señora de La Luz senior center, the improvements to the municipal warehouses, the purchase of housing for social rental and the launch of the Casa del Cuento. And his most special wish for 2024 would be to recover the municipal swimming pool.
Another rookie at the head of a Mayor’s Office is Juan Ramos, in San Juan de la Rambla. In his case, he hopes that the new appearance of the coast of the Las Aguas neighborhood will begin to take shape, as will the remodeling of the Delgado Oramas mansion, in the center, to become the first rural school hotel in the north of the Island. And, as it could not be otherwise, he trusts that the departure for the La Rambla neighborhood will be finalized.
The only mayor who has not expressly expressed his wishes to this newspaper has been the mayor of Garachico, José Heriberto González. Perhaps because the recent visit of the island president, Rosa Dávila, to the Town and Port confirmed that part of them, such as the connection to the Island Ring, the actions that improve the historical complex, the creation of parking or the construction of a space multipurpose in the old FAST ship, are almost assured and there is no need to include them in the letter to the Three Wise Men.
