The situation of paralysis that Magma Arte y Congresos is going through, highlighted in recent months by this newspaper, has led the mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, to “join the discontent of civil society” over the management of this building “so powerful from an architectural and functional point of view, that it was a very important bet,” according to what he told DIARIO DE AVISOS yesterday.
With a cost of 30 million euros, the Magma intended to provide Tenerife – specifically, the South and, specifically, Adeje – with a facility so that the tourism sector would gain competitiveness, deepening the MICE tourism segment (fundamentally, travel business, incentives, business and conferences). It was inaugurated in 2005.
Magma is an administrative concession of the public body Canarias Congress Bureau Tenerife Sur (CCB Tenerife), dependent on the Department of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, and operated by the company Blue Marketing Events SLU. However, it has not hosted any high-level event since 2015 and, in addition, it has lost the organization of the IV Turespaña Convention, which will take place in the Adeje auditorium due to the inoperability of the Magma, as confirmed by the Tenerife Cabildo. All of this unless Tourism resolves this situation before this date. This newspaper tried yesterday, without success, to obtain a response from the regional Executive on whether or not to terminate the contract, despite the importance of the situation.
Rodríguez Fraga, for his part, said that the commitment to the Magma management model “is not working. There is deep discomfort and I join in, because we have an infrastructure that cannot be used and that is obsolete.”
After the visit that the regional Minister of Tourism, Jessica de León, made to his municipality days ago, the mayor said that “I have expressed my availability, the availability of the Adeje City Council, if necessary, to establish an agreement so that really work. It’s not that we’re crazy about managing it directly, but we want it to work. And let it be used for what it was designed. Not only for conferences, but other related activities. The building itself is a value in itself.”
