The former mayor and spokesperson for the group with the most councillors in the Arona Council, José Julián Mena (PSOE), has stated, in Canarias Ahora, that the local government has “acknowledged”, after various questions and interpellations in the plenary session, that it provides sunbed and parasol services on several of the main beaches “without a current contract, which compromises the legality of the provision and puts municipal income close to two million euros a year at risk.”
Mena recalls that this is the figure for the fee and that last year, when Costas imposed a fine of 60,000 euros for this situation in July, “up to 500,000 euros were not collected, while the rest was contributed by the companies on their own initiative in December 2024.” The former socialist leader emphasises that, due to this lack of legal coverage, “without contracts and with precarious services, the council is exposed to litigation from business owners.” Moreover, “competition is blocked because the absence of tenders prevents free competition, favouring the current company by operating without a contract.”
The socialist spokesperson recalls that the fine imposed exactly a year ago was by the Ministry for Ecological Transition for allowing “without authorisation” the exploitation of various services on the beaches, such as sunbeds, but also sports courts, particularly in the coves of Los Cristianos, Las Vistas, Charco del Marqués, and Playa Honda. He highlights that the authorisations had expired, which also affected spaces in the public domain. “The government then linked the fine to delays in the transfers from Costas to the Community, but did not assume direct responsibilities for the lack of administrative renewal.” Therefore, he recalls that last May, his group proposed in the plenary session that there should be quarterly reports on the progress of this process and regarding the income, “but this was rejected, resulting in a lack of control, discredit, and a lack of transparency.” “We wanted to regularise this situation urgently, but they opposed it, and today there are still no administrative specifications to tender these services, as even the responsible councillor admitted in a plenary session. Therefore, without official deadlines, the tendering avoids time frames and this means that the company exploiting these services is doing so without a qualifying title, which could lead to claims or litigation against the council, apart from preventing competition and effectively favouring a concealed direct award, thus perpetuating opaque and irregular management of the public domain in a clear example of administrative chaos.”
For Mena, this is unjustifiable when two years have already passed since the current term began, as there are no valid contracts in force, services are being provided outside of legality “and without control”, municipal income of around two million euros is at risk, the council is exposed to new administrative fines, and “any issues that arise on a beach could lead to demands for administrative accountability of any type.” For this reason, he fears that the situation will persist and demands immediate rectification.
When asked about this situation, the local government of Arona announced that it would analyse the criticisms from the main opposition group and will provide its version shortly.
