The mayor of La Orotava, Francis Linares (DC), has signed this week the decree that approves the declaration of emergency of the work necessary to avoid new landslides on the cliff of the Bollullo beach, in the protected agricultural area of El Rincón. According to the reports of the Municipal Technical Office, Linares gives the green light to start the contracting file for the sanitation works and protection of a part of the cliff where on December 30, 2021 large rocks fell again on the access path. Since then the beach has been closed.
The stones came off right on the section of the slope that did not have the new protection, installed last summer. On July 2, 2021, the Villero City Council was forced to close the accesses after the detection of cracks and landslides. On that occasion, the emergency route was also used and, for three months, sanitation, adaptation and protection works were carried out on a stretch of hillside, in the central area and on what is known as Playa Chica.
According to the Government of Villero (CC), «The action that now wants to be carried out corresponds to the part from the beginning of the stairs to the beach itself». The municipal technicians already value the performance and request budgets from specialized companies. The intention is to award “in the coming weeks” and that the work begin “between the end of January and the beginning of February.” It is estimated that the works, which could an investment of around 200,000 euroslast between three and four months. If there are no complications, the accesses to Bollullo beach may be ready for this summer. On this occasion, the cliff will also be cleaned up, the wall reinforced and the area protected with the placement of more sections of metal mesh.
Francisco Linares acknowledges that “the closure of the beach is not wanted by anyone, but circumstances and nature are what rule and, in this case, the safety of users is once again paramount above all else.” With the first emergency action, which ended after the summer, «it was only possible to act on one part of the cliff and now, with this new intervention, the work will be done on the other part, so almost the entire space would be covered of the hillside”, points out the president. The Villero Consistory undertakes that “since access is guaranteed safely, the access path to the beach will be opened.”
This coming Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at the Territorial Planning Information Commission, the representatives of the different political groups of the Municipal Corporation will be informed of “the entire process and technical study that is being carried out, as well as of the works that are intended to be carried out on the beach.
With the work on the access stairway to Los Patos beach already reactivated and this emergency declaration for El Bollullo, La Orotava is ready to recover these two beaches for the coming summer season.
