El Tanque will have this year the viewpoint project with a suspended platform which aims to leave behind the failed action in La Atalaya and turn this balcony over Isla Baja into a tourist attraction capable of putting the municipality on the map of must-sees in Tenerife. The tanker mayor, Esther Morales (PSOE), was this week in a coordination meeting with the public company Gestur Canarias to analyze the latest advances in a project that she trusts will be completed within a period of about four months, “if there are no problems ».
Morales acknowledges that “This is one of the most ambitious initiatives in recent years at El Tanque, due to the orography of the land, which requires a high technical implication to be able to promote a space with a lot of tourist and landscape projection». The works have been entrusted to Gestur, thanks to a grant of 50,000 euros from the Government of the Canary Islands. The public entity has been working on this action since July 2021.
The project foresees actions to clean the environment; the improvement and conditioning of pedestrian access, which is one of the great obstacles to be overcome; the conditioning of a viewpoint cafeteria and a floating platform-viewpoint. The existing cafeteria at the La Atalaya viewpoint will be closed for 20 years in 2022. The entire installation cost around 400,000 euros and, despite the fact that the City Council has tried on several occasions, the business has never been awarded. It was even proposed to convert it into a hostel for hikers. A discarded idea.
Both the tanker City Council and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Canary Islands Government They share the conviction that this intervention will allow “strengthening the main local tourist assets thanks to a project that aspires to transform the area into a unique place in Tenerife”, according to the regional councilor. Jose Antonio Valbuena (PSOE).
Esther Morales has not hidden that the main inspiration for this idea is the Abrante viewpoint, in the municipality of Agulo, in La Gomera. In La Atalaya, its strengths are in the exceptional views of the Isla Baja and the town of Garachico, as well as in its links with the history of the region due to the old laundries and its use for centuries as a lookout post against possible attacks from pirates.
The three big problems of the viewpoint of La Atalaya they are remoteness, accessibility and lack of parking. To get to La Atalaya from Garachico it is necessary to drive for almost nine kilometers along the sinuous and deteriorated TF-421 highway or take a long detour of almost 13 kilometers through Icod de los Vinos, San Juan del Reparo and El Tanque. When you get to La Atalaya street, narrow and without exit, there is not even a reserved parking space to go to the viewpoint, which is only accessible on foot after going down about 150 meters along a path not suitable for wheelchairs, baby strollers or people with reduced mobility. This project aims to at least end the accessibility problems. Regarding the distance, it is intended to compensate with the attractiveness that the suspended walkway will exert, as it happens in the Abrante viewpoint. The Consistory works in parallel in the search for funds for the final execution of the project and for the acquisition of land annexed to the TF-421 for car parks.
