Challenges continue to mount for the current Arona administration, comprised of PP, CC, and Más por Arona. These issues include investigations by the Civil Guard into local officials regarding the alleged misappropriation of materials within the Cultural sector, as well as claims of a municipal employee diverting cash from the collection of fines and taxes. Additionally, there are complications stemming from the resolution of the Agency of the Medium, new complaints regarding the Guaza industrial warehouse, and a fine imposed on the city council by Costas amounting to €60,000 for not renewing the necessary authorisation for the operation of sun loungers, umbrellas, various sports facilities on the beach, and other leisure amenities at four key beaches in one of Tenerife’s most popular municipalities.
The sanctioning dossier originates from the Costas de Tenerife service and the general management of the Coast and the Sea, which is part of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (the resolution does not mention any transfer of powers). It was initiated on 4 July and reached the local Corporation on 19 July. According to this document, the sanction is a result of the current administration failing to secure the essential authorisation from Costas within the required timeframe, which is non-transferable as it falls under the jurisdiction of the competent administration. Without this enabling title, these services cannot be operated in the designated swimming areas, specifically Las Vistas beach (the main beach in Arona and a benchmark in Tenerife), Los Cristianos, Charco del Marqués, and Playa Honda.
Altogether, the area affected by these services across the four beaches totals 16,926 square metres. In the case of Las Vistas, the fine pertains to the 1,200 sun loungers in place, the 600 umbrellas, eight scooters, four paddle boards, and four courts of 250 square metres each designated for this sport, alongside two beach tennis courts of equal dimensions. In total, the land occupied by these services on the primary beach of Los Cristianos is 11,212 square metres.
Concerning the beach named Los Cristianos, the fine relates to the 4,358 square metres taken up by 300 sun loungers, 150 umbrellas, four beach volleyball courts, two beach tennis courts, and a sailing school. Charco del Marqués features a surf school with a booth (occupying 120 square metres) and another for the same activity without facilities (30 square metres). Playa Honda has 100 sun loungers and 50 umbrellas, along with two surf schools with booths, 20 boards, and another four surf schools without facilities, totalling 1,206 square metres.
This penalty follows an initial complaint lodged on 22 April of this year by the provincial Coastal Service’s surveillance department and is based on an alleged irregular occupation of the public maritime land domain by the Arona City Council for not timely requesting the relevant administrative authorisations, violating articles 91, 101, and 102 of Law 22/1998 on Coasts and 192 (letter a) and 209 of its regulations. The head of the Provincial Coastal Service commenced and resolved this sanctioning dossier on 22 May.
Furthermore, the notification reminds the council that “the offender is obliged to reinstate the conditions and restore them to their prior state within the timeframe specified in the resolution.” It also indicates that there is a period of 12 months to notify and resolve sanctioning files, and that the local administration has 15 days to present any allegations it deems appropriate from the date of this fine notification.
To date, the Arona City Council has not provided a response to this newspaper’s inquiry for their perspective on the situation.
