The president of the Provincial Federation of Metal and New Technologies Companies of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Femete), Alberto Villalobos, said yesterday the “resounding yes to the Port of Fonsalía to relaunch Tenerife. It would be foolhardy to give up its construction. Femete is totally convinced that investing in the maritime sector will multiply the economic development of both the island and the entire province ”.
The head of the organization that mainly represents the business associations of naval repairs and recreational sailing expressed the defense “at all costs” of the Isoran port “of public interest” because it would enhance the traffic of people and goods, it would improve connections with La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro and would unblock the collapse and saturation suffered by the Port of Los Cristianos, with “facilities that have become obsolete and very serious problems of capacity, accessibility and security.”
Villalobos affirms that Fonsalía “is compatible with making the Granadilla and Los Cristianos facilities profitable.” In his opinion, the industrial nature, that the tides would complicate the maneuvers of the passenger ships and that the navigation distance would increase, make the Port of Granada still a problem as an alternative. To say that Fonsalía is an environmental attack «is a mistake. On the contrary, it would reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions by reducing inter-island journeys and their cost. It would also further reduce the risks of collision with the protected cetaceans in the area if the same detection and precautionary measures are taken that are currently being adopted with the traffic of the port of Los Cristianos ”. Femete also supports “the timely and necessary study of its impact on marine life and protected habitats.”
