The ponds are “fantastic for walking without the hassle of sand blowing in the wind, as happens at the Las Teresitas beach,” states Chari Hernández as she walks through the Valleseco Ponds Area. The Santa Cruz resident attended a morning stroll punctually at 11 in the morning with her mother, in a wheelchair, and her daughter. “The concrete promenade is very comfortable to push the wheelchair,” is one of the aspects that stands out the most about this new space to enjoy with family. For people with reduced mobility, it opens up the possibility of taking walks near the sea, an activity that is limited at the sandy Las Teresitas beach in the capital due to the obvious impossibility of dragging wheels through the sand, and although Chari has not yet tried bathing in the ponds, she adds that they enjoy “taking walks by the sea a lot.”
After the inauguration of the Valleseco Ponds Area on March 10, four months have passed since Tenerife has had an additional bathing space in its capital. Before this new construction, the residents of Santa Cruz, for the most part, visited Las Teresitas beach or El Bloque because they were the most accessible areas in Santa Cruz. Toñi, who lives in Ofra, explains that she used to frequent these two areas because they were the closest to her home. However, the location of El Bloque between the port dikes generates, at times, dirt due to the waste generated by the port and discomfort to the residents who decide to resort to other bathing areas.
This is the case for Miguel García, a veteran resident of the Tenerife capital. García decided today to take his first dip in this new Ponds Area, which not only offers a novel option to cool off on the coast but opens the doors to the sea for an island city that suffers from constructions that have closed its access to the coast. With the new bathing area, Santa Cruz now has at least 272 meters more to enjoy the sea and all its benefits, especially now with the arrival of summer and a more demanding demand from citizens to cool off on hot days.
Residents enjoy the morning at Charcos de Valleseco. / María Pisaca
Miguel García’s morning consisted of a refreshing dip in a busy, yet not crowded, Valleseco Ponds Area. Other times, he usually refreshes himself at El Bloque, but the rough tide and the dirt that usually comes from the port towards the shore forced him to change his morning ritual and debut in this new area. “More than a beach, it’s like a swimming pool because of the calmness of the water,” García affirms while enjoying a serene and sunny morning on wooden and concrete slabs facing the sea. Around 11 in the morning, he changed back into his usual attire and set out to take a walk along the promenade with a “very positive” first impression of the new space.
