The City Council of La Laguna, via the Municipal Services Area, alongside the Insular Society for the Promotion of Persons with Disabilities (Sinpromi), has commenced collaborative efforts to assess the feasibility of having the cafés in the Parks of the Constitution and La Vega, which have been shuttered since 2016, operated by special employment centres, as reported by the local authority yesterday.
These centres aim to foster employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, facilitating their integration into the workforce under conditions tailored to their requirements. Although the initiative is currently in its early stages, both parties concur that this collaboration holds substantial social and community potential.
The councillor overseeing the Municipal Services Area, Fran Hernández, emphasised yesterday that “reopening these cafés would not only address a longstanding demand from park users but would also enable us to do so from an inclusive standpoint, positively impacting both the environment and local employment.”
Hernández stated that “while the process is still in a very preliminary phase, if it were to materialise, it would provide job opportunities for a group that faces significant obstacles in accessing employment, particularly in the hospitality sector.”
The collaborative efforts between the Council and Sinpromi will proceed in the coming weeks, focusing on evaluating the technical, legal, and operational conditions that would render this inclusive management model feasible and effective.
Several Attempts
The cafés in these two Aguere parks have been closed since early 2016. Since that time, the City Council of La Laguna has endeavoured to facilitate their reopening, and after four unsuccessful attempts over five years using various methods, last year they declared their intention to try once more with a new tender and to develop specifications that would be more appealing to bidders.
However, “given that we have already seen three deserted attempts, the Technical Unit also recommended that we explore the option of partnering with Sinpromi, and they are indeed very interested in this type of venue,” Fran Hernández explained yesterday, highlighting the insular society’s “specific programme for the management of cafés” and its “extensive experience” in this arena.
The councillor indicated that Sinpromi “is evaluating the feasibility of managing the operation, and on our part, we are fully supportive.” “Our objective is not for the City Council to gain any form of rent from this, not in the slightest. What we aim for is for these spaces to become meeting points in these parks and to provide options for individuals who face challenges in finding work,” he stated.
