The new image for the capital’s flea market, which will be provided with new blue and white booths; the installation of covers to shade Calle del Castillo; the renovation of changing rooms, furniture and swimming pools of the César Manrique Maritime Park, or the drafting of the project for the future Añaza Maritime-Sports Park or the pedestrianization of the Nuestra Señora de África Market are just some of the actions that the Santa Cruz City Council Tenerife will carry out this year to improve the city.
The capital City Council, which will have a budget for 2024 estimated at 374 million euros, the largest in its history, will allocate more than 91 million to the area of Strategic Planning, Environmental Sustainability and Public Services directed by Carlos Tarife, a total amount of that an item of 6.8 million will be directed to Planning, with the objective of undertaking various key projects in the economic promotion of the municipality.
Among the actions to be carried out throughout this year, the mayor highlighted the transformation of the image of the Rastro, which will be equipped with new blue and white booths to give continuity to the adjacent ones on the Rambla Azul. “The idea is to improve the aesthetics of the current market and turn it into a more attractive space for citizens and visitors, preventing merchandise from being placed on the ground and achieving uniformity in this area that opens every Sunday in the surroundings of the Nuestra Señora de Mercado. Africa,” he indicated.
Tarife detailed, during the presentation of the budget for the current fiscal year of the municipal area, that “the Rastro will have a total credit of 233,380 euros that will be distributed between two projects. On the one hand, the tender for the Self-Protection Plan, currently being processed, in which the City Council will entrust a company with the management and control of this market. A service, which is expected to be awarded in the coming months, aimed at its security, as well as carrying out regulatory control inspections.”
Regarding the new image project of the Rastro, which will mean an increase of 53,280 euros in the municipal budget for 2024, “it is an initiative focused on the installation of new booths, in white and blue colors like those that define the capital, in order to dignify this commercial activity of the market. Work that is expected to be finished by the end of the year,” said the councilor.
On the other hand, the financial year planned for this new year in the area of Strategic Planning includes more actions, among which the project on public roads focused on carrying out the Sombra project on Calle del Castillo stands out. Tarife commented that “the total amount that will be allocated to this action will be 60,000 euros to cover the expenses derived from this initiative that the City Council, in coordination with the Cabildo, will promote in said commercial artery of the capital. The project is drafted and now we will meet with Historical Heritage to move it forward, since the idea is to do in this area something similar to that of Calle Sierpes in Seville.”
Natural pools
Another of the actions to be carried out this year will focus on the drafting of the Añaza-Acorán Maritime Sports Park project, whose item includes a budget application of 148,775 euros, co-financed by a subsidy from the Island Council, to meet contracting expenses. of the architectural studio that will design the work, whose total cost is estimated at around 300,000 euros. “The idea is to provide the Añaza coastline with natural pools and a new leisure and sports area, with floating platforms that allow all citizens to enjoy them,” added the mayor.
Likewise, in the urban mobility section, new budget applications will be created, with a municipal contribution of 127,700 euros, to address the actions of the Tourism Sustainability Plan in Destination, co-financed with NextGeneration Funds, within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience, which will also be linked to the drafting of the pedestrian and cycle route project for the La Alegría and Residencial Anaga neighborhoods, in order to create safe access to educational centers and sports spaces, highly frequented by bicycles or scooters. Project endowed, in turn, with 120,000 euros.”
In another order, the Strategic Planning area will also grant this year a subsidy of almost 1.3 million to the César Manrique Maritime Park in the capital, with the objective of carrying out the remodeling of the changing rooms and rooms, the acquisition of furniture and improving swimming pools.
Another initiative will involve providing the credit corresponding to the municipal contribution of 118,450 euros, to meet the expense derived from the execution of the project to boost competitiveness in the Nuestra Señora de África Market and its surrounding area.
At this point, Carlos Tarife stressed that “the improvements in this area, co-financed with Next Generation Funds, will include the implementation of a Wi-Fi network; signage and advertising on digital media; the installation of smart purchase delivery lockers; the implementation of APP Market and website along with other technological solutions; in addition to the improvement and adaptation works of the Rambla Azul area, still pending drafting of the project, as well as the pedestrianization of the street and rear access to the Market, also in the drafting phase. Works that are expected to be completed before the end of the year.”
Likewise, another action in 2024 will focus on the creation of the Digital Pole aimed at creating an innovation space and a trends laboratory in which virtual and digital ideas and projects are developed. To this end, the City Council has contracted the support service from the Municipal Business Initiatives Company of Malaga. The budget item that will be allocated to this new job niche, whose headquarters will be located in the municipal offices of Barranco de Santos, will be 60,000 euros.
Likewise, photovoltaic installation will be promoted in kindergartens and municipal schools, allocating a total of 37,842 euros this year, and hot water thermal works will be carried out in sports facilities in 15 municipal soccer fields, for 173,437 euros. Both projects will have European funds.
