The president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila (CC), revealed yesterday that, commencing January 2025, “we are going to prohibit entry to the Anaga Rural Park for large tourist coaches.” Furthermore, “an Anaga shuttle bus” will be introduced to encourage organised visits to the natural park via public transport. Simultaneously, in collaboration with the La Laguna City Council, a park-and-ride facility will be established in Las Canteras, and also in 2025, “access for private vehicles will be restricted” to the rural park.
“It is essential to respond to the residents living in that protected natural area, as well as in Teno,” she asserted, although she did not elaborate further regarding the latter area. The local complaints from the inhabitants of the Anaga Rural Park have been persistent, particularly due to the ongoing traffic congestion caused by the surge in visitors.
This announcement was made during an extraordinary session of the plenary, requested by the PSOE, for the island president to clarify the situation pertaining to her commitment to resolve traffic jams within 90 days and the measures that have been enacted. Dávila mentioned that, thus far in her term, the island government (CC-PP) has rolled out 70 initiatives to alleviate congestion and promote public transport and sustainable mobility, which has prevented “over 23 million trips by private vehicles on our roads,” she stated.
The island president praised the Island Sustainable Mobility Plan and called for a “significant agreement for mobility on the Isle.” During her address, Dávila recounted the measures proposed by the Cabildo to date in her tenure and made several announcements, including the construction in 2025 of four deterrent car parks, two on TF-1 and another two on TF-5, to enhance connectivity with public transport, based on an evaluation of 22 locations on TF-1 and 13 on TF-5.
Moreover, she announced the launch of a new shuttle service in the North towards the Hospital del Norte, and that by December, the construction project for the BUS-HOV lane on the TF-5 between Santa Cruz and La Laguna will be submitted, which will be managed through a smart system and will commence in 2025.
Concerning the tow truck service for swiftly removing accident vehicles, she noted that in the early months of 2025, an agreement will be established with the DGT for subsequent bidding. As for the initiative to gather ideas for the Northern train to “discover innovative solutions,” she indicated that it would be released in “the first quarter of 2025.”
However, the Minister of Highways, Dámaso Arteaga (CC), noted that the project “has not yet been received,” which means “there is nothing prepared to tender,” and concerning the Padre Anchieta pedestrian walkway, he stated that “Our goal is to have the ring completed by January 2025 and the work finished by the end of the first quarter.” Manuel Fernández from the PP stressed the importance of this agreement for mobility and urged for “a spirit of collaboration for the benefit of Tenerife.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the socialist group, Pedro Martín, condemned the island Government for making “numerous announcements and headlines” of measures that ultimately remain unexecuted, highlighting that this year they will forfeit more than 62 million in the Canary Islands budget designated for highways on the Island. “No new construction has begun in Tenerife this year,” he underscored. He reiterated the need to prioritise the La Laguna bypass and maintained that “it could have already been awarded.” In addition, he critiqued the “silence” of the Cabildo in relation to the demands for roads directed towards the Canary Islands Government.
From Vox, their spokesperson, Ana Salazar, pointed out that the measures announced by the island government thus far in this term are “insufficient” and characterised them as “temporary fixes.” “Little progress and deep-rooted solutions,” she asserted, also holding the PSOE “largely accountable for the mobility issues on this Isle.”
