Cancellation of Underwater Gardens Project
The Underwater Gardens, the first amphibious regenerative park in Europe, scheduled to be built in Punta Blanca, southern Tenerife, has been cancelled. The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, announced this decision during a press conference alongside the vice president, Lope Afonso, while discussing changes to the project led by Marc García-Durán Huet, founder and CEO of the company of the same name.
“I have signed the decree denying the Underwater Gardens project as an island interest project,” stated Rosa Dávila at the beginning of the press briefing. She indicated that this decision will be put forward for approval at the full Cabildo meeting next Friday.
Rationale for the Decision
The president elaborated on the reasoning behind this new direction: “This decision is in favour of Tenerife, our coast, the protection of our natural heritage, and aligns with our vision for the development of our Island. This project was proposed in a very special area, the Teno-Rasca Special Conservation Area, an exceptional environment that cannot be replaced or imitated.”
“We want jobs, investment, innovation, and economic activity, but with projects that are compatible with the protection of our territory. They must be coherent with the development model of Tenerife that we advocate. Sustainability cannot just be a marketing slogan; it needs to have a real criterion for decision-making. What was proposed as a regenerative project ultimately turned into an amusement park. For years we have talked about changing the model, accepting that not everything works and that growth must align with the conservation of the spaces that make Tenerife unique,” Dávila concluded, justifying the Cabildo’s rejection of the project intended for the south of the Island.
Potential Appeals
The proponent of the Underwater Gardens project will be able to submit appeals once the denial is presented to the full assembly and approved. According to Rosa Dávila, multiple extensions were granted to the proponent to submit the necessary documentation, which has not been provided by those involved.
A Project with Critics
The primary idea of this project was to “regenerate and not merely maintain the damage already done, and to serve as a reference destination on an international level“, according to the communications director of Underwater Gardens, Jordi Van Oostenryck. A coalition of over twenty researchers from academic institutions such as ULL, ULPGC, and CSIC had voiced opposition to the project last May, stating that it lacked technical rigor and used the guise of ecological restoration to conceal what they described as a model of “extractivism with a better image.”
