The Socialist Group within the Tenerife Cabildo has put forward a motion to safeguard mobility in the Anaga Rural Park, working closely with local residents and businesses to ensure both social and environmental sustainability. This motion is set to be defended by councillor Javier Rodríguez Medina at a plenary session next week, as announced by the party.
Pedro Martín, the president of the Socialist Group in the Tenerife Cabildo, has called for the development of a plan that considers both residents and the local business community, incorporating sensible and strategic measures that facilitate access for inhabitants, while promoting the growth of small enterprises in the region, thereby alleviating the current overcrowding of the area.
The PSOE asserts that this proposal follows the announcements made by Rosa Dávila, president of the Tenerife Cabildo (Canarian Coalition), regarding the ban on buses from the park, which was made without any substantial evidence. This has resulted in a free flow of thousands of private vehicles, leading to significant congestion in this vital protected area of the island, which presents serious mobility challenges and complicates daily life for residents. The PSOE further claims that the president sought to obscure her inadequate results in improving island mobility by issuing statements aimed at garnering media headlines rather than proposing effective solutions for the situation in the Rural Park.
Pedro Martín explained that the Socialist Party supports a preliminary plan that is to be discussed with local residents, which limits access for private vehicles—allowing only residents in the rural park—while prioritising high-occupancy vehicles and public transport. The complete removal of buses will likely mean that many visitors will resort to personal and rental cars. “Rosa Dávila’s decision could exacerbate the situation,” cautions the PSOE.
He also recalled that during the previous term of office, efforts began to address the traffic congestion in the rural park through a plan which included, among other proposals, the establishment of park-and-ride facilities outside of the area, in La Laguna, and the operation of shuttle buses to the park.
“To announce the opposite, as the Cabildo president has stated, namely to build a car park in Cruz del Carmen itself, is ludicrous, as this would attract thousands of vehicles to the park, when the most sensible approach would be to utilise high-occupancy public transport to access it, leaving private cars in designated parking areas outside, barring those belonging to Anaga residents,” emphasised the general secretary of the PSOE in Tenerife.
Pedro Martín reiterated that, instead of searching for well-founded solutions to the genuine issues faced by residents, Rosa Dávila seems more focused on generating headlines that are either nonsensical, as in this case, or potentially detrimental to the locals, who are not being heard despite enduring the traffic congestion.
