Anyone passing these days along the main road of La Zamora with the intention of going to or coming from the industrial estate of Los Realejos, a municipality in the north of Tenerife with around 37,500 inhabitants, will notice that something is amiss, that the neighbourhood is dissatisfied, and that this is no trivial matter. This is particularly noticeable near the so-called bodegón La Bloquera and its adjacent homes, as well as the properties facing them. However, upon observing other houses in the area, particularly closer to the neighbourhood of La Montaña, one reaches the same conclusion: there is a significant, organised citizen mobilisation at play, as many homes bear well-crafted and identical banners on their facades that clearly express their strong opposition to the installation of a gas plant in the area, located just 30 metres (as they report) from homes established many years ago.
This mobilisation has transformed into a platform and has already achieved, among other things, that the Los Realejos Town Council supports them unanimously. Both the local government (PP, with 15 councillors), as well as the PSOE (5) and CC (1), have lodged objections to the project, emphasising, among other arguments, that such an installation is unsuitable for this location. Even though it is situated near the municipality’s industrial estate, it would also occupy part of rustic land, which prevents such construction just as “a neighbour is not allowed to create a storage shed,” as the mayor, Adolfo González, explained to Canarias Ahora.
Only if the regional Government (CC-PP) grants the project the status of work and plant of general interest could this key obstacle be overcome. So far, it has not done so, although the Councillor for Ecological Transition and Energy of the Canary Islands Government, Mariano Hernández Zapata (PP), continually stresses that, like other similar plants, this one is essential to address a potential energy blackout as have already occurred in Tenerife, La Gomera, and La Palma. This generation facility is named Tigaiga (an area under the slope in Los Realejos, albeit distant from this site) and will have emergency groups totalling 14.8 Mw.
A TOWN HALL GOVERNED BY THE PP
It is noteworthy that Los Realejos, once a socialist stronghold with powerful absolute majorities (from 1979 to 2003), has become one of the flagship municipalities of the PP in Tenerife since, in 2011, the current Vice-President of the regional Government, Manuel Domínguez (PP), secured robust absolute majorities after serving as councillor for Finance from 2003 to 2007 (in coalition with CC) and moving to the opposition due to a self-defensive pact between CC and PSOE (from 2007 to 2011) after the conservatives increased their councillors from 2 to 6 in 2007. Consequently, the current mayor reinforced these majorities even further (in both votes and percentage) in 2023. Therefore, given the unanimous rejection this plant evokes among all the council groups, the residents do not understand why Domínguez has yet to address this controversy, which impacts his municipality and the residents who likely, at least in some cases, supported him in his meteoric political career since 2003, leading to his pact with Fernando Clavijo and the regional vice-presidency.
Canarias Ahora requested Domínguez to share his perspective on the plant and the firm opposition from residents, but he once again evaded the request. Sources from his communications team clarified that his stance aligns with the official position of the Government, emphasising that while there are residents now complaining about the location of an installation the Executive sees as crucial, many more would be outraged by an energy blackout in Los Realejos, its region (the Valle de La Orotava), the northern area, or all of Tenerife, subsequently demanding explanations and compensations. The issue is that the chosen location in this case is fervently contested by the affected neighbours, as well as by others from Los Realejos and other areas. For instance, the new Secretary-General of the Tenerife socialists, Tamara Raya from Puerto de la Cruz, a regional deputy and likely candidate for the Cabildo of Tenerife in 2027, clearly expressed her opinions last week in a press release and in the regional Parliament. The affected parties lament that their protest is being politicised, but, according to their spokesperson, Montse González Castro, they have recently witnessed an unexpected surge in citizen support that extends beyond just La Zamora and La Montaña, encompassing many other areas. In fact, once they reach a “round” figure, they will publish the signatures they have been collecting over the past week as proof that this isn’t merely a selective and self-interested opposition from the most directly affected residents, especially those living just a few metres from the future plant, but rather a more widespread rejection.
HEALTH HAZARDS
According to the spokesperson, this opposition is not only due to the health and safety concerns associated with a propane gas plant, with the constant noise it generates and other security and health risks, but also to what she considers nonsense in 2025: continuing to rely on energy amid any system failures or network issues on fossil fuels “that supposedly should no longer be used after 2030, even as an alternative during a blackout.” Thus, she refers to the “commitment in La Palma” to battery storage for clean energy and believes that the plant in question (to be built by the hydrocarbons company Disa after reaching an agreement with the landowner) is outdated and contradictory to the ecological transition that receives so much discourse, with ministries explicitly named after it.
Additionally, she questions the constant emphasis from the Canary Islands Government that this is a “temporary” installation when its lifespan is set at 25 years and wonders what technicians and politicians who selected this site would do if they lived right next door. Furthermore, she believes the key to the current energy emergency stems, among other issues, from a lack of genuine and non-contradictory support for renewable energies, “not from continuing to burn fossil fuels using propane gas groups.”
A very similar opinion is held by the local mayor, who emphasises to Canarias Ahora that the council’s position is not only unanimous but also steadfast regarding this project, which has been communicated to the individual who, until a significant part of the last term, was his mayor (he served as the first Deputy Mayor) and is now in the regional vice-presidency. Although González admits that if the plant is declared a “general interest” work, local options will dwindle, he makes it clear that they will continue to oppose it through any necessary channels.
THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS IT IS A STRATEGIC INSTALLATION
The relevant councillor detailed the Canary Islands Government position last week following a question from the Socialist Group in a plenary session of Parliament, highlighting that it is one of eight projects aimed at ensuring energy supply in the event of failures or outages and is being processed via urgent channels due to the energy emergency declared by the regional Executive at the beginning of this term following an energy blackout in La Gomera and the state of installations there and across other Islands, particularly concerning Tenerife, La Palma (which recently suffered outages), and Gran Canaria, though issues extend to all except El Hierro, which has had the Gorona del Viento renewable installation for years.
Hernández Zapata explains that the consultation period for objections regarding this plant has already closed and that, as in other cases, the objections will be reviewed and responded to. The Government emphasises that the choice of locations depends on the technicians, and just as with the rejection of a liquefied natural gas plant at the Port of La Luz (in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), they must be allowed to work freely without pressures.
Meanwhile, the affected residents and those opposed to this installation feel another type of pressure: the threat to their quality of life, which is why they have donned war paint and do not intend to remove it.
