More than 4.7 million euros are spent on illuminating Santa Cruz de Tenerife, covering municipal buildings, electricity supply for offices and schools, as well as traffic lights. This amount is an expense managed by the City Council, aimed at providing light to the city. An additional 2.8 million euros is allocated for the maintenance of electrical installations in public spaces, including street and park lighting, fountains, and electric vehicle charging points, according to Carlos Tarife, the Councilor for Public Services. This was announced during the presentation of the budget for 2024 which totals 65 million euros.
Tarife emphasized that a specific budget of 435 thousand euros will be allotted for Christmas lights and an additional 253,000 euros for the acquisition of decorative elements. When the new public lighting contract amount is added, the total investment reaches 4.5 million euros.
Planned actions in this area include the extensive replacement of LED lights at 5,000 locations in the city (3 million euros), adaptation of fountains (60,000 euros), replacement of lighting in García Sanabria Park (160,000 euros), lighting adaptation works in sports centers (100,000 euros), as well as lighting in the Santa Catalina and Hupa Lupa parks (47,000 and 50,000 euros, respectively), among others.
For water supply in the municipality, over 2.4 million euros will be allocated this year. This includes expenses for municipal headquarters and offices (64,000 euros), schools (288,000 euros), sports facilities (128,000 euros), and parks and gardens (1.9 million euros), as explained by the councilor.
Another significant item in Public Services is the city’s cleaning service, which accounts for almost 21 million. The majority of this budget goes to street cleaning (13 million), waste collection excluding oil (7.3 million), and waste treatment in the PIRS (6.5 million). Additionally, 367,000 euros will be invested this year in the maintenance and replacement of litter bins for waste collection.
For the maintenance of street furniture and playgrounds, the City Council has earmarked 2.2 million euros for the current year, while 1.4 million euros will be allocated for roads and public spaces. The maintenance of Parks and Gardens, within the urban green infrastructure, will amount to 8.3 million euros. In the planning of green areas, 708,000 euros for 2024 will be directed towards projects such as the pruning of jacarandas on Belgium Avenue for 34,000 euros and the replacement of trees and installation of safety measures for 84,000 euros, transforming the area into “a 100% accessible sidewalk,” as announced by the mayor. Another project will be the construction of the green roundabout on Avenida San Sebastián (30,000 euros).
Additionally, 19,000 euros will be allocated for the urgent pruning and felling of 21 trees, following a study by a specialized company, and a more detailed analysis will be conducted on the xylophagous fungi causing the collapse of trees in recent months, with an investment of 50,000 euros.
Introducing a New Tool to Accelerate Works Execution in the City
The maintenance of urban roads will receive 1.8 million euros in 2024, with highlights including the asphalting of the Presidencia (164,000 euros) and Tres de Mayo (127,000 euros) roundabouts, as well as the asphalting of the entrance direction of the Rambla (351,000 euros). It is planned to replace the pavement of the Alameda del Duque Santa Elena (150,000 euros) and that of García Sanabria (250,000 euros), while the panels of the Vía Litoral will be painted blue and white for 62,000 euros. Additional actions include modifying the Market roundabout to facilitate bus transit. Carlos Tarife also mentioned the renovation of Calle San Martín (280,000 euros), which “will be transformed into an area similar to Imeldo Serís,” and the pedestrianization project for Calle San Isidro, where the future Almeyda parking lot will be constructed. The assessment for this project has been entrusted to Gesplan, as stated by the mayor. “In May, we will have a tool that will expedite all the projects, as we will establish a framework agreement where a group of companies will carry out projects and another will execute them, accelerating the project timelines,” he said.
