The proximity of Three Kings’ Day multiplies traffic on these dates throughout the island of Tenerife, a territory plagued for decades by mobility problems, which has one of the highest rates of vehicles per inhabitant and square kilometer on the European continent. A reality that tests the patience of thousands of motorists every day on the highways and at the entrances and exits of the main cities, aggravated at the beginning of the year by the latest orders to Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar.
The map of circulatory chaos no longer understands schedules, and even less so in the run-up to the Three Kings holiday. Large stores such as Meridiano, El Corte Inglés or Nivaria (located in the same area of the Tenerife capital); Alcampo-La Villa, in La Orotava, and the Siam Mall shopping center, in the municipality of Adeje, reflect the bustle that is being experienced this week in the streets, with full parking areas and thousands of consumers kicking galleries and plants to comply with the tradition of helping the Magi of the East do their work.
Added to these areas are points such as Las Chafiras, in San Miguel de Abona, an area where commercial warehouses of all types proliferate; Los Cristianos, in Arona, and Puerto de la Cruz. And the shopping boom coincides with the high tourist season that the Island and the Archipelago are experiencing.
PARKING LOTS
The photograph of vehicles in a caravan, immersed in a constant stop and start, can also be seen anywhere in the Tenerife capital, where it is difficult to find a free space in the parking lots, although the opening of the dock esplanade, in front of the Plaza de Spain, has partially alleviated the agony of searching for parking in Santa Cruz. The other image of the extraordinary circulatory activity is seen in this campaign in the buses and trams, packed with users at all hours.
According to calculations by the Local Police of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, this week an average of 23,000 cars will enter the capital every day, only in the time slot between 7 and 10 in the morning. A more than relevant fact to which we must add another very significant one: in the previous Christmas campaign, the city registered 7,809,705 vehicle movements (adding entries and exits) between December 2 and January 8.
Tomorrow, Epiphany Eve, coinciding with the royal reception at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium, will be one of the days with the greatest difficulty in moving around the city by vehicle, both due to the volume of traffic and the closures of streets and avenues. for the passage of the Cavalcade. It must be remembered that on January 5, 2023, more than 235,000 entries and exits were recorded in the Tenerife capital.
SALES GROW
According to figures provided by the dealer association, Faconauto, the vehicle fleet in the Canary Islands does not stop growing. In 2023, 75,487 units of all types were sold, 22% more than in 2022. The average density of vehicles in Tenerife is already close to 850 per 1,000 inhabitants. The good tourist moment has had a lot to do with the takeoff of the sector. It is enough to check the behavior of the rental car market.
Beyond the Christmas holidays, which are now coming to an end, the mobility problem will once again arise on the North and South highways and the roads of the Island next Monday, the day of return to normality. Along with the high number of vehicles (almost 850,000 on an island of one million inhabitants and just over 2,000 square kilometers, half of which are natural spaces), experts point out other factors that exacerbate the traffic problem in Tenerife, among them the dispersion of the Island, with three very defined population centers (metropolitan area, North and South) and the deeply rooted culture of traveling by private vehicle.
The latest statistics are conclusive: only 11% of trips in Tenerife are made by public transport compared to 89% by private vehicle.
