Since the start of 2016, the tea rooms in the La Vega and La Constitución gardens have remained closed. Over the past five years, the La Laguna City Council has been striving to reopen them, and now, in 2024, they are making a new attempt after four unsuccessful tries. The local council is currently working on a new bidding process, as confirmed by the Councilor for Finance and Economic Services, Paqui Rivero, during the latest municipal plenary session: “These bids have been put out four times in the last five years without success; Currently, the specifications for re-tendering are being drafted.”
The councilor further stated, “The council’s aim is to reissue the tender for managing and operating the tea rooms in both gardens this year.” To achieve this, “the Municipal Services department will prepare contract documents with more enticing terms for potential bidders that enhance business opportunities,” she added.
Additionally, the councilor mentioned that “we are examining models in facilities with similar characteristics in other municipalities to incorporate aspects that can make the bidding process more attractive.” “We believe that both spaces have great potential for exploitation, but the terms must be favourable for bidders to proceed,” she emphasised.
The tea rooms in La Constitución and La Vega gardens shut down in early 2016, post-Christmas, following the end of the concession for commercial use, with the winning company opting not to renew. The city’s government at that time pledged to restart the process for a new tender, which was postponed until 2019 during the previous term, when it was initially offered for bidding, resulting in no takers.
Subsequently, it was re-tendered, again with no success, and then a non-publicized negotiated procedure was initiated, also yielding no results. Towards the end of 2022, the council announced that a new entrepreneur had shown interest in managing one of the tea rooms, but this did not materialise. Therefore, the council mentioned that they will explore potential alternative solutions to find an effective contracting method.
