The 34 environmental and sporting organisations that make up the Save Punta Blanca platform are celebrating the rejection of the Insular Interest declaration for the Underwater Gardens project, hoping it will serve as a “definitive halt” to the major tourist project in the Teno-Rasca marine area.

Concerns Over Marine Biodiversity

The platform notes in a statement that the Tenerife Cabildo had previously granted Insular Interest (PII) status to the project in 2022, which aimed to develop a theme park for divers covering over 10,000 hectares of land and several thousand square metres of seabed with artificial reefs.

Project Withdrawal

“Today, the Cabildo has been compelled to retract that declaration of insular interest, a project that would affect rustic land and the Teno-Rasca marine area, a hotspot of marine biodiversity threatened by tourism,” it states.

Impact of the Insular Interest Declaration

The Insular Interest declaration was a critical component enabling construction on environmentally protected rustic land, which included plans for over 18,000 metres of infrastructure over 10.6 hectares, including a ‘meditatorium’, an underwater museum, swimming pools, and a desalination plant, among others.

Future Viability of the Project

According to Save Punta Blanca, without the Insular Interest declaration, the project “loses its administrative support”, rendering the land component “unviable” as it was originally proposed.

Interconnected Nature of the Project

The platform emphasises that, as indicated by the project documentation and submitted objections, the land component (Garden Gate) and the marine component (Sea Garden) are two parts of the same business initiative. With the loss of institutional backing for the land component, “the entire project is in jeopardy, both land and sea,” it indicates.

Collective Victory

“This is a victory for collective action. We hope the president of the Tenerife Cabildo genuinely listens to the citizens and halts other ecologically harmful projects, such as the Motor Circuit or the expansions of airports, ports, and roads that are set to be launched. Today, collective and legal action prevails,” declares the Save Punta Blanca group.

Ongoing Threats to the Southwest

In this context, they express that the southwest of Tenerife “faces many other threats” driven by the Cabildo, municipalities, and the Government of the Canary Islands, such as Cuna del Alma or real estate projects within the protected natural area of Montaña de Guaza.

Political Accountability

“We are in an election year, and those who granted this same permission cannot now claim they saved us from this mega-project. We expect and wish this to be the Cabildo of Tenerife’s approach to other equally harmful projects for the island,” the groups comment.

Inconsistencies in Decision-Making

“How can the Insular Interest status be revoked for this theme park while the Cabildo is currently processing WaveGarden, an artificial wave theme park in front of La Tejita beach?” ask the Save Punta Blanca representatives.

Continued Advocacy Needed

For this reason, they insist, “we must continue fighting to ensure that tourism does not consume what remains, especially in the southwest of Tenerife.”