The presidents of the town councils of La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and Tenerife have spoken in favor of the construction of the Port of Fonsalía, in Guía de Isora. Since the gomero Casimiro Curbelo brought to the fore the situation of chaos suffered by travelers when passing through Los Cristianos (Arona), the debate between defenders and detractors of the project is intensifying. But all suggest that the Green Islands should be listened to. «I have been an hour and a half from the port to take the highway. We cannot be in the condition we are in; we can no longer support an infrastructure that is absolutely outdated, ”said Alpidio Armas, from El Salvador, at the Connectivity and Tourism Forum, which held EL DÍA in February 2020. A situation that lasts a year and a half later.
«We support the construction of Fonsalía. One of the problems that we suffer is the extra cost motivated, in many cases, by the lack of connectivity. We have to aspire to have a first-rate island of La Palma, such as Tenerife and Gran Canaria ». Words of the island president of La Palma, Mariano Hernández, who refers to the current debate warning that “it is a situation of a port that is in Tenerife, but that directly affects the rest of the islands of the province.”
Casimiro Curbelo repeatedly confirms the importance of this infrastructure. In the penultimate he assured that the Port of Fonsalía will do it this or the next Canary Islands Government. But he goes one step further by calling for the mobilization of the Western Isles councils. “All the presidents of the town councils of the province support, mobilize and work so that the Port of Fonsalía moves forward,” replied his counterpart from La Palma.
With the Port of Granadilla discarded as an alternative solution – something in which Pedro Martín, president of the Tenerife Council, agrees due to the increase in time and cost of the crossing and the incompatibility of use of said enclosure -, Mariano Hernández argues that « Fonsalía is the only space that this port allows and I hope to find the support of the Government of the Canary Islands to make it possible ”.
In that line, Pedro Martín argued that the change from the port of Los Cristianos to Fonsalía “maintains the same condition” and, based on a technical analysis dating from 2016, he assured that “the point par excellence to communicate with La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro is Fonsalía”. Its location reduces by 35,000 miles a year maritime traffic in the transport of passengers and goods, which also leads to savings in fuel, pollution and the cost of goods.
