Arona is from today, and in times of pandemic, a tourist municipality certified as a healthy destination. It is the second in the world and the first in Spain to obtain the European Health Destination, a recognition and a commitment that has entailed hard work by the Tourism area and that guarantees that its climate, its public spaces, its parks or the quality of water and sand, among many parameters, contain the necessary elements to improve the health of those who approach him.
The badge was collected today by the mayor of Arona, José Julián Mena, who was accompanied by the councilors for the areas of Tourism, José Alberto Delgado, and Sports, Francisco Marichal. All this has taken place in the official presentation of Arona at Fitur 2022, which has been held before the media and specialized agents at the stand of the Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands, of which it is a part. Likewise, the island director of Tourism of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Laura Castro.
The European Health Destination consists of the certification of the municipality as a healthy destination, which has the natural conditions, the capacity and the necessary infrastructure, with high services related to safety and accessibility, as well as high standards of environmental protection and curative resources for prevention and rehabilitation.
Mena: “A commitment that connects with Bengt Rylander”
As Mena explained, this certification is connected “with the very origins of Arona itself as a tourist destination, and especially Los Cristianos, which developed as a place to recover from different ailments since the mid-20th century, when Bengt Rylander began his particular search for the place with the best climate in the world” and arrived at the town.
“Since then the municipality has developed, progressed and, in recent years, has made a fundamental commitment to accessibility, sustainability and digitization. All this -he added- without forgetting the importance that health has acquired as a result of the pandemic and the key factor that the inevitable aging of the European population will have in the coming years, which is looking for destinations to visit with the highest quality of life and that can meet your specific needs. The mayor of Arona has insisted that “a certification of these characteristics is not only recognition, but, above all, the acquisition of new commitments”.
Jose Alberto Delgado: “An active commitment from all areas”
For his part, the councilor for the Tourism area has stressed the idea that “making Arona a certified healthy destination, through this European Health Destination, without a doubt it is very important because of the attractiveness it implies, in the same way that the certification was Biosphere, in which we were pioneers, but it is, above all, an active commitment of all municipal areas, which are part of a project that concerns the quality of air, water or sand, public services or facilities municipal sports, not to mention the work on accessibility”.
The councilor for the Sports area, Francisco Marichal, stressed during the presentation the commitment of the municipality as a tourist destination closely linked to sports practice and training, given its climatic conditions and its facilities.
Francisco Marichal: “A high-level sports destination”
Specifically, he referred to the competitions that will take place in Arona throughout the year, with special emphasis on the Outdoor Athletics Master Championship, which will bring together more than 1,500 athletes between 35 and 80 years old, in addition to all the staff and their companions, between June 17 and 19, 2022 in one of the main national events in this discipline.
The mayor stressed that “one of the great attractions of Arona is its natural temperature conditions, its public spaces, beaches or facilities for athletes from all over the world, one of whose main tests were the months prior to the Tokyo 2020 games, in which more than fifteen very high level medalists gathered in the municipality”.
Francisco Marichal listed that, in addition to the championship, throughout 2022 there will be bets on beach volleyball tournaments on Las Vistas beach, the Las Galletas half marathon, the Tenerife International Meeting of Combined Events or the Arona-La Subida Motoring step.
For their part, those responsible for obtaining the European Health Destionation certification, Carolina Rodríguez, CEO of the consulting firm Conswell, and Kurt von Storch, CEO of EuropeSpa, also took part.
