On June 4, the Cabildo and the Town Halls of **Candelaria, Arafo and Güímar** are set to make progress in establishing the body responsible for maintaining the Industrial Polygon Valle de Güímar. There are some disagreements resurfacing because the insular government’s proposal to create an urban conservation entity (EUC) appears to be a regression of a decade in this aspect. Previously, the municipalities had agreed to form a consortium, with the Cabildo’s approval from the last mandate, which had been pending.
The three mayors of the Güímar Valley are calling for an **urgent solution**. “Whatever it may be, but already,” sums up Juan Ramón Martín (Arafo) in a shared message, emphasising the need for it to “adhere to legality.” This is where things get complicated, as the heads of the municipal secretariats have redirected efforts to create the **Urban Conservation Entity**, which has been in development for over five years, towards forming a consortium, believing this aligns better with the legislation. Additionally, the municipalities believe that this is the most cost-effective and efficient approach for managing the maintenance and conservation of the island’s principal industrial area. “We don’t mind, but legally only the consortium is viable,” states Mari Brito, referencing her reports.
In the current mandate (February 2024), the Cabildo de Tenerife awarded the study to determine the costs associated with that **conservation and maintenance task**, a critical step that will establish how much each municipality involved in the industrial complex will contribute. By April 2024, the insular advisor of Industry, Manuel Fernández, had managed to convince the entrepreneurs in the polygon of the advantages offered by the urban conservation entity.
On October 9, 2015, the EUC seemed to be the solution. As a result, the three municipalities and the Cabildo had reached a preliminary agreement to protect the Valle de Güímar industrial estate. In April 2020, the municipalities opted for the consortium, since there had been delays in establishing the EUC, even though its statutes had been approved back in September 2015.
Reception and well
The agreement between the Mixed Compensation Association (Sepes State, CajaCanarias, Cabildo, and entrepreneurs) and the municipalities allowed for the **transfer of ownership of the industrial estate** to the municipalities. At 11:45 AM on July 22, 2013, in the Civic and Commercial Building located on the main avenue of the complex, the general director of Sepes, Lucía Molars; the general delegate of Caixabank in the Canary Islands, David Cova; the mayors of Arafo, José Juan Lemes, and Candelaria, José Gumersindo García, along with the mayor of Güímar, Carmen Luisa Castro, signed the reception of the Industrial Polygon Valle de Güímar in the presence of the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Ricardo Melchior.
Among the benefits received by the municipalities was a ship, around one million euros each, and the shared ownership of the Chiguengue well, which not only supplies **more than 200 companies located** in the area, employing about 3,000 people, but is also a service managed by a private entity, a contract awarded to the Targa company.
While the formal ownership belongs to one of the municipalities, it has not been completed as the well remains privately owned. Resolving this transfer is considered essential, but it is contingent upon the establishment of the urban conservation entity or an equivalent body.
A backless bag
Throughout this process, more than **11 million euros have been spent on conditioning and cleaning the area**. Prior to the change of ownership, 8 million euros had gone into renewing and improving service networks (water distribution, sewage, telecommunications, electrification, and lighting), repairing sidewalks and roads, landscaping public spaces, and marking plots and other elements.
Since then, the complex has experienced significant neglect and a **serious deterioration of the rehabilitated areas**, which prompted the Cabildo to announce, last February, an expenditure of over two million euros “to adapt landscaping, roads, and sidewalks; promote the project to enhance external lighting to the polygon; install charging points for vehicles; rehabilitate the pavements and improve the signage; enhance storm networks and adapt the landscape of the polygon, among other initiatives.”
In just over a decade, investment in the drafting of the complex has exceeded 11 million euros
However, the issue regarding spills—a source of fines imposed by the European Union—remains unresolved in the judicial system. Four mayors, including Carmen Luisa Castro, José Gumersindo García, José Juan Lemes, and Mari Brito, are facing accusations of alleged ongoing environmental crimes and malfeasance. The **Construction of the Water Treatment Facility** at the Industrial Polygon Valle de Güímar is regarded as a significant achievement and an example of inter-administrative cooperation.
The Valle de Güímar Industrial estate spans 2,024,999 square meters, with 17.72% (358,814) belonging to the municipality of Candelaria; in Güímar, there is 29.30% (593,358), while Arafo, the smallest of the three municipalities, covers 52.98% (1,072,827 square meters) of the most crucial industrial complex on Tenerife.
