“Lawless neighbourhoods” are not just a feature of the American West or of extremely serious criminal situations. They can also arise from simple administrative issues that, while certainly different from security problems, create almost surreal scenarios. This is what has been happening for about four years in several streets of the Guamasa area, right on the border with the municipality of Tacoronte, in Tenerife. Residents of the small El Fresno street have created up to three barriers with huge reinforced concrete blocks and fences to prevent other residents or users of adjacent streets (especially the right transversal that connects with Santa Rosa de Lima and Suertes Largas, but also Vereda del Camellón) from passing through — either by car or on foot — forcing them to detour through a very narrow and unlit path (Padilla), which prevents access for large emergency vehicles (such as ambulances or fire engines).
For years, to reach Suertes Largas street, residents of dozens of houses, including a home for individuals with mental health issues, used to pass through El Fresno street, but since it was closed, they have been forced to go down to the dark, narrow Padilla road, crossing their fingers not to encounter any oncoming vehicles or pedestrians, as there is no room for everyone.
Some affected residents criticise that these blockages were made by other neighbours from El Fresno in an attempt to pressure or convince the La Laguna City Council to take on the urbanisation of the area and finish installing services for any urban enclave (lighting, pavements, etc.), something that nearly happened four years ago, when the majority of residents on El Fresno street paid what the council required (in some cases, amounts exceeding €50,000). It was rustic land, but in order to secure the houses built there, they were offered to pay and regularise their situation. However, one resident, for reasons unknown, did not do so, blocking the resolution, and then sold their chalet, which the new owner has also not paid the requested amount for, according to other residents’ accounts.
This has prevented the council from receiving the urbanisation, and due to the stalemate, those three barriers were erected by residents of El Fresno, which confirms that feeling of a lawless neighbourhood, at least in terms of traffic regulation, although the council insists that this is what needs to be done (fencing) for safety reasons because the urbanisation has not been completed.
In other words, as if the urbanisation works were still active, even though not a single brick has been moved in years.
Affected residents complain not only about the inconveniences due to longer and more difficult journeys but also recall that in Vereda del Camellón (one of the nearby streets) there is a care home for the elderly (there’s another one right in front of the exit to Santa Rosa de Lima street via the transversal, plus a third for individuals with mental health issues), which presents subsequent difficulties for accessing ambulances, supply vehicles, or large-scale repairs (and even medium-sized ones).
Signs of “non-existent” works and multiple letters
The affected residents have approached the council multiple times (particularly in 2022 and onwards, with some background dating back to 2013) to try to resolve this situation, asking that streets that were once open — which they believe create the right of way — should no longer be closed. In fact, the council installed lighting through an action unit that ended up being blocked. They criticise that signs have been put up referring to works on El Fresno street that “do not exist”, and they are now tired of the lack of solutions, especially since they remind that the licence for the unit dates back 21 years (granted in 2004), and therefore “seems eternal”, as they expressed in a letter to the council in June 2022. Hence, they do not hide their “disappointment” with the Mayor’s office and the Urban Planning department “due to lack of diligence and seriousness”.
One of the latest letters from the critical residents is dated 15 March 2024. The local government (PSOE-CC) emphasises to Canarias Ahora that, as stated at that time, El Fresno street “is not municipal” because “the land has not yet been transferred to the council and, therefore, is not subject to local management or maintenance”. However, it does have public lighting, which the Padilla road lacks (the narrow road that residents of Suertes Largas street are forced to use).
The council highlights that “the responsibility lies with the Compensation Board of UA_GM03, which operates within the framework of the (frozen for several years) urbanisation project and the parcel redistribution”. In this context, it reminds that “the roadway is part of an unfinished urbanisation work, and in accordance with safety regulations, these must be fenced, and access to the area must be restricted to prevent potential accidents involving third parties”. However, one must question whether the work is simply halted or has been abandoned, as no worker has stepped foot in the area for years. The council also points out that the residents’ proposals for complaining “fall under UA GM3, which has not yet been received by this administration”.
However, the council acknowledges that Padilla road “is municipal” and that, as residents have suggested, “improvement measures could be proposed that should be considered by the Works department”, although residents complain that nothing has been done yet. Additionally, the local government emphasises that it has always informed the affected parties about these limitations, while asserting that it continues to act in search of solutions.
