Fifty individuals protested yesterday in the heart of Santa Cruz against the establishment of the new cycle lane initiated by the city’s municipal authority, with the first phase of construction expected to conclude in April 2025. Despite an alert being issued due to severe winds, the demonstration set off around 11:00 a.m. from Weyler Square, traversing part of the future urban cycling route, led by the organising associations and backed by various local merchants and political parties such as Vox.
The organisers carried placards with messages including: The bike lane is attractive, but not like this!, No to disorder in our streets, and Calle del Pilar resembles the TF-5. They also added wooden scooters adorned with photographs of the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, and the councillors for Public Services and Mobility, Carlos Tarife and Evelyn Alonso, which were placed at the entrance of the City Hall as a demonstration against an initiative that “has not been planned or consulted beforehand with those affected,” they claimed.
The protesters, including prominent members from the Urban El Perenquén and Vamos Movernos neighbourhood associations, remarked that “over 1,200 parking spaces have already been removed from the city centre, without any alternative being offered to residents, visitors, and businesses, and projections from the mobility plans suggest this figure will climb to 5,000.”
They asserted that “the construction efforts have also diminished loading and unloading zones on El Pilar, Méndez Núñez, and Villalba Hervás streets, adversely impacting local businesses. Furthermore, the Pilar taxi rank and parking facilities for mobility vehicles have been significantly reduced, hindering access for individuals with disabilities or the elderly to the city centre.”
