The full council of Arona City Council has approved three actions of special significance for the future of the southern municipality: the transfer of municipal land for the construction of two educational centres and social housing. The steps taken by the Council benefit two areas with great needs in the tourist town: education, with urgent demands for new infrastructure due to the significant population growth of Arona (from 38,416 inhabitants in 2000 to 85,249 at present); and housing, in the midst of a housing crisis.
The Mayor of Arona, Fátima Lemes, highlighted that the work of her government team over the past few months “is beginning to materialise in tangible realities”, in this case in areas “as important as education or housing”. “In education, with our commitment to ensure that our young people and their families have the opportunity to find the best education they deserve without having to leave the municipality. And in terms of housing, with the rapid implementation of land for social housing that had been blocked for almost 40 years,” she emphasized.
On one hand, the transfer to the Department of Education of the Canary Islands Government of municipal plots was approved. One will be for the new Special Education Centre (CEE) and School Residence in Parque La Reina, which will be located on lands near CEIP Parque La Reina and IES Montaña Guaza. Another plot located in front of IES Ichasagua will be used for the construction of the new Comprehensive Centre of Vocational Training in Los Cristianos (CIFP). Both centres are part of the Shock Plan of the Department of Education of the regional government to improve the infrastructure in the South, which also includes the expansion and improvement of five other educational centres in Arona.
The Councillor for Education, Héctor Reyes, argues that these actions respond “to the needs of educational infrastructures in our municipality”. “Seeing the demand, we believe the Comprehensive Vocational Training Centre is necessary so that our young people’s entry into the job market is with the best training and qualifications,” Reyes highlighted, adding: “Similarly, we have the need for the Special Education Centre to meet the needs of all students with special educational needs. It will be a centre with all the resources, tools and spaces to meet the needs of these students and thus be able to offer them quality education and care.”
On the other hand, the full council of Arona Corporation approved the transfer to the Canary Islands Housing Institute (Icavi) of the land for the 51 social houses in Vento and the 50 in Hermano Pedro to unblock the administrative hurdles affecting these urbanizations whose land delivery has been delayed for 38 years. The Housing Councillor, Juan Sebastián Roque, highlights that the council agreement “unblocks a historical debt of the council with those residents who should have been able to have their houses registered in their names many years ago and, in addition, benefit in their common areas from essential public services such as cleaning, maintenance, and, among others, electrification.”
The full council of Arona City Council also agreed to request from the public entity for urban planning and management Gesplan to become an affiliated entity of the council to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of municipal services through contracts related to strategic municipal areas. It will allow the council to have the means and resources of that entity attached to the Department of Political Territorial of the Government of Canarias.
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As explained by the Urban Planning Councillor, Luis García, the measure “will benefit the management of municipal urban competences and services and, consequently, the residents of Arona”. “It is based on the need to strengthen human resources and means to effectively address the workload affecting municipal areas and services,” he concluded.
