The new terminal at Reina Sofía airport

In recent years, new terminals have been built throughout Spain, even in Lion, with very few flights, and on all the Islands, except Tenerife South. Of these terminals, the most important have been designed by great architects: Lamela y Rogers, Madrid; Bofill, Barcelona and Seville; Calatrava, Bilbao; Fairbank, Valencia; Bonet, Palma.

At an international level, and in all major tourist destinations, the same thing has happened. All architects are recognized: Zaha Hadid Architects (Patrik Schumacher), Beijing (China); Studio Fuksas, Guangdong (China); Fentress Architects, Denver (United States); Safdie Architects, Boston (United States); Norman Foster, Mexico City; Kasian Architecture (Don Kasian), Richmond (Canada); Architects Charles Murphy and Helmunt Jahn, Munich (Germany).

And meanwhile, At the Reina Sofía only small improvements and expansions have been made, making it a big problem and a brake on the economic, social and tourist development of the Island. Its discomfort is one of the complaints of tourists who visit us. Many days there is nowhere to sit. Added to this are the problems of long waits at passport control and queues, sometimes lasting more than an hour, to take a taxi.

10 years ago we started a social movement in Tenerife in order to pressure AENA to build a new terminal, which, as we have mentioned, it has done throughout the Peninsula and on all the Islands. Even AENA has expanded in recent years to Brazil and other countries, partly financing these multimillion-dollar investments with the profits of the Reina Sofía.

AENA then began to justify itself with unreasonable statements, such as that it had invested some amounts, that it had done some works and improvements… But the terminal remained almost as uncomfortable and saturated. The media pressure continued and policy, and then the then regional director announced the expansion of the terminal by 5,000 square meters, joining the old one with a disused building, built years ago. Building that is a kind of industrial warehouse without any grace. It is true that it relieves stress, but it creates another big problem, which is its location in a corner, which means that in boarding and disembarking operations enormous distances have to be traveled, without conveyor belts for people.

It is something provisional and, as we say here, to escape. Tenerife’s aspiration is a large terminal at the South airport, like those that have been built in the Spanish capitals and like those that are being built in the most important tourist destinations in the world. Not only should it be comfortable and practical, but it should be an image of a wonderful Island, represented by light, vegetation and water.

Since civil society is not satisfied with the situation, and thanks to the work of the presidents of the Cabildo Carlos Alonso and Pedro Martinand the deputy Hector Gomez, AENA begins to recognize that it is necessary to build a new terminal at the Reina Sofía. The then Minister of Development, José Luis Ávalos, on a visit to the Island, promised that it would be included in the 2022-2026 Multiannual Investment Plan (DORA). When the Council of Ministers approved this plan, the great disappointment came. Large investments appeared in Madrid, Barcelona and Palma, but not in Tenerife. And that in Barcelona they reject it. The battle continued, and on the occasion of the provisional expansion of the terminal, on May 25 of last year, the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, and the president of AENA, Maurici Lucena, announced the holding of a project competition for a new terminal at the Reina Sofía. The regional director then pointed out that quality would prevail in the competition so that the new terminal would not only be functional, but would also reflect the image of the Island.

Last summer the competition was called and, yet another surprise, the amount of the project fees took precedence over quality. The price scores 100 out of 200, and the quality 50. It contravenes the provisions of the Public Sector Contracting Law, which indicates that quality must score 51%, and the rulings of the Administrative Court of Public Contracts, in the same sense. The situation is that of the five proposals presented, two of them went to the last phase, and the cheapest was inevitably awarded.

In addition to the Contracting Law, AENA has ignored the Statute of Autonomy, which indicates that autonomy must be consulted, and we add to the Tenerife Council, representative of the Island, when approving the specifications and awarding the tender. And all this with reductions in fees of 40%, we logically imagine at the expense of the quality of the design.

Surely if the project has passed the technical filters established by AENA, will allow the construction of a practical, safe and comfortable terminal, which as we are is a great advance. But we fear that it will not live up to the image of the Island, nor will it foreseeably be at the level of those that have been built on the Peninsula, nor those that have been built in the main competing international tourist destinations. Now the challenge that remains is, in addition to analyzing and improving the project if possible, for AENA to present it in Tenerife before the works are put out to tender. Also, try to get it included in the current DORA 2022-2026, and even more so now that in Catalonia there is great opposition to the planned 1.7 billion euro expansion of the Prat.