Some boast of having invoked the participatory model from the beginning. Others think the opposite. Some believe that the project is constituted “as a unique opportunity to complete and transform the city.” Others do not want to see their region become “a victim of tourism.” Holy Cross Green 2030, a megaplan agreed in 2018 between Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Cepsa for the urban regeneration of the land currently occupied by the Tenerife Refinery, the oldest in Spain (1930) and paralyzed for more than ten years, is close to starting. Since the capital of Tenerife gave way to the new General Plan for Urban Development (PGOU), which, in the words of the Councilor for Urban Development, Carlos Tafire (Popular Party), is “the largest urban development operation in the country”will begin to take shape.
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife meets with the refinery staff before his imminent transfer to Granadilla
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The City Council announced it about four years ago: all the land occupied by the refinery, about 576,000 square meters, will become land for residential and tourist use. There will be a “great system of free spaces”, the relationship with the sea will be promoted, a new transport interchange will be built… In percentages: 41% green spaces, 21% residential areas and 10% hotel beds. “A project that is committed (…) to the use and generation of resources and sustainable environmental values; and for economic revitalization and the creation of new direct and indirect jobs”, says the consistory.
Before the agreement, a German geographer, Marcus Hübscher, who did an Erasmus at the University of La Laguna, has been in charge of contrasting with about twenty interviews framed in the investigation ‘Planning behind closed doors: Unlocking large-scale urban development projects using the stakeholder approach in Tenerife’, if what Cepsa and the City Council indicated at the launch of the initiative is being fulfilled: “The development of the project will include the precise citizen participation processes, through active listening to the residents of Santa Cruz in all phases of action, from transparency and continuous exchange of information”. According to him, and according to what he has extracted from the meetings with all these protagonists, including local politicians and businessmen, there is a “great difference in perception” around Santa Cruz Verde 2030. Especially among the promoters and the interested parties. This newspaper has asked a total of four geographers based in Tenerife who confessed to not being knowledgeable about the subject.
From the refinery to cruise tourism
The Santa Cruz de Tenerife refinery was cataloged as the “economic lung” of the city, supported by all parties. There were even neighborhoods that were built around the plant to keep the workers close. However, he was losing his influence. It was falling in employees. And obvious factors such as environmental pollution or the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Air Quality Plan, approved in 2014, ended up digging his grave. Some people interviewed by Hübscher also acknowledge that “already before it was closed, voices were heard in favor (…) that are not characterized by defending the quality of the environment, such as tourism promoters, real estate, etc.”
The location is ideal. Near the coast and with good weather. Santa Cruz Verde 2030 is expected to undergo a service-oriented “touristification” process. The megaproject projects the first urban beach in the city and almost doubles the number of tourist places in an area where there are currently no hotels or short-term rentals. Hübscher makes a parenthesis: “Although Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a non-tourist city, it is the capital of the third most visited tourist region in Spain, the Canary Islands”. Tarife, specifically, is interested in the region becoming a “cruise tourism connection center”. And for that, beds and hotels are needed, he justifies. “I insist, this idea of expanding the offer comes from there.”
There are more supporters. The PSOE and one of the community of neighbors interviewed, who affirms that “in the end, Tenerife lives from tourism and Santa Cruz, too…”. Other voices, such as a geographer and the United We Can party reject the idea. “Barcelona is a victim of tourism. I would not like Santa Cruz de Tenerife to become a victim as well”.
The planning of a unique megaproject in Europe
It has never been thought of to transform the old refinery space into a residential and commercial area. “There is no comparison in Europe”, remarks the mayor of the city, José Manuel Bermúdez. According to Hübscher, relevant entities within the capital such as the Chamber of Architects, real estate associations and the opposition, consider that “the project focuses a lot on image and marketing, rather than content.”
They believe that there has not been a real public debate and that “there was only one event organized by the Chamber of Architects, but that is all (…) The main stakeholders have their own proposal and people say what to add or what to remove, but the predefinition of that model normally excludes citizen participation”. Hübscher details that Bermúdez “avoided a clear answer” about these accusations and replied that “it’s just one way of looking at it.” In the presentation of Santa Cruz Verde 2030, Cepsa and the City Council already break down the planned programs: openness to the sea, mobility and accessibility, infrastructure, public facilities… The PSOE even brought a motion to the plenary session so that the government team (Canarian Coalition-Popular Party) would rectify the pact.
The Government of the Canary Islands, through the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning, authorized a few weeks ago the first steps of dismantling the refinery. During the first four years, the project has been more stopped than anything else. But now it’s taking off. Tarife recently declared in the newspaper Notice Journal that the City Council wants “citizens to have the possibility of giving their opinion, beyond the participatory processes established by law”.
Marcus Hübscher, for his part, concludes the study by assuring that “this imbalance between content and communication has confused local stakeholders. Hence, the case of Santa Cruz Verde 2030 helps us to better understand why, four decades after the transition to democracy in Spain, any debate on its content and design [de los proyectos urbanos a gran escala] It’s practically non-existent.”
