Leisure, enjoyment and shopping will be intertwined in the new urban promotional initiative Hello, Sunday, through which the Santa Cruz City Council aims to enhance economic activity over the weekends. To transform Santa Cruz “into a vibrant city” on Sundays, from October 6 to November 3, the city centre will host a variety of events designed to attract visitors during this initial pilot phase of Sunday trading, which applies only to establishments located in the High Tourist Affluence Zone that are part of the project. This initiative will also include a new edition of extraordinary consumption vouchers that will complement the measure, offering residents and visitors a 70% discount on their purchases.
This was revealed yesterday by the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, during the campaign’s launch, accompanied by the CEO of the Development Society, Carmen Pérez; the councillor for the Centro-Ifara district, Purificación Dávila; the general director of Commerce for the Canary Islands Government, David Mílle; and the president of Facua, Abbas Moujir.
The vouchers for spending on Sundays in Santa Cruz will be valued at 25 euros, yet will only cost the consumer 7.50 euros, as the council will subsidise the remainder. Each Friday, starting at 10:00 a.m., these vouchers can be purchased on the website www.bonoconsumosantacruz.com, available until 12:00 p.m. on Sunday when they can be redeemed in shops. Each person is permitted a maximum of two vouchers weekly, totalling six throughout the campaign, and “it is not necessary to be a resident of Santa Cruz; visitors from other municipalities in the Canary Islands or Spain may also take advantage of this,” the mayor added.
“This is a new temporary initiative that will help us promote Sunday openings and further support local commerce in the capital,” Bermúdez emphasised. A fourth extraordinary edition of consumer vouchers will see an allocation of 100,000 euros (6,000 euros per business), aimed at stimulating activity within Santa Cruz’s centre, where businesses can register for the programme starting today.
Carmen Pérez noted that the campaign will feature a range of street activities intended to create a lively atmosphere that fosters commercial engagement. Thus, the initiative will commence on October 6, coinciding with the new edition of Plenilunio, and will be followed by other events on the subsequent Sundays in October, including the XVIII International Clownbaret Festival; the Canarias Surf Film Festival 2024; and the XXI International Comic and Illustration Fair of Tenerife. Additionally, Halloween celebrations and the X Tenerife Half Marathon will take place on November 3 and 17 respectively.
There will also be cruise ship visits from Seven Cruise Mariner, Hanseatic Nature, MSC Poesía, Costa Diadema, and Hamburg Marina, among others, which will contribute to making “Sundays a significant success,” highlighted Mílle and Moujir.
