A sacred museum, a multifunctional room, and a tourist office, resurfacing of the square and the current walk of San Blas and Cueva de Los Camellos and the pedestrianization of Antón Guanche street These will be some of the main actions that will take place at the beginning of next year 2023 that will transform the Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias in Candelaria into a more open and modern space.
The President of the Council of TenerifePedro Martín, and the mayoress of Candelaria, María Concepción Brito, have presented this Wednesday the remodeling project of the Plaza de la Patrona de Canary Islands and its surroundings, an action that also includes the canalization of the channel of the ravine and the implementation of hydraulic pipes.
Pedro Martín valued the importance of this work with which a “historic debt” is responded to with the city council and with the citizens and advanced that the budget will be around 19 million and the works will be put out to tender in February.
“A symbolic space for Tenerife, one of the most visited on the island as a permanent place of pilgrimage, which required this action,” said Martín, who said that they come “to set dates, not just proposals.”
Thus he said that “in February the project will go out to tender and in the first half of the year it is expected to have the tender resolved in order to start with the long-awaited and necessary works.”
In addition, he indicated, “we have spared no effort, the Cabildo will contribute 19 million euros to the works, 5 million euros more than the initial budget, set at 14 million euros.”
Martín also clarified that “the item will be financed on a multi-year basis, in parallel to the development of the different phases of the project, an ambitious and complex action that is estimated to be completed in three or four years.”
For the mayoress of Candelaria, María Concepción Brito, “this is a big day for Candelaria, for Tenerife and also for the Canary Islands, we have been working on this project for many years and it makes us very happy to be able to give this news and present an initiative as ambitious as it is the remodeling of the Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias, a cultural, religious and identity symbol”.
In his opinion, “being here on December 21 is exciting for our team, the Christmas lottery and we have won the Gordo prize, we are talking about the square but also about its surroundings, which holds a large part of the municipality’s historical heritage, there is a lot of effort, work and commitment so that this project can be consolidated and move forward”.
Without a doubt, he continued, “the impulse of the government of Pedro Martín in the Island Council has been fundamental, key, so that we are here today, we will continue to be very attentive so that the tender and award of the work is carried out in this first four-month period of the year 2023”.
Pedro Martín also detailed some of the actions planned in the project.
ALMOST 20,000 SQUARE METERS
Specifically, it will act on some 19,425 square meters of surface, in three areas that surround the Basilica: the promenade (3,431 square meters); the Plaza de la Patrona (13,640 square meters) and the Plaza de los Artesanos (2,354 square meters).
Among the outstanding works, Pedro Martín outlined the construction of a ramp building in the Plaza de la Patrona, which will house a sacred museum, a multifunctional room and a tourist office, among other uses.
He also indicated that the plaza and the current San Blas promenade and Cueva de Los Camellos will be resurfaced and Antón Guanche street will be pedestrianized, transforming it into a linear plaza at its upper end.
The mayoress of Candelaria also stressed that “the action will coincide with the improvement of sanitation and hydraulic connections throughout this space, which will include the channeling of the La Arena ravine, the collection and channeling of the ravine and discharge into the sea, and the pipes of the district sanitation system.
In addition, he clarified that “the project has preserved the pilgrims’ fountain that is located at the doors of the Basilica, as well as the group of the Guanches.”
For his part, the insular director of Territorial Planning and Historical Heritage, Emilio Fariña, highlighted the effort made in recent years to promote this action.
“The project was awarded in 2010, later and after open consultation with public administrations, it was agreed to modify it to incorporate the channeling works of the channel that runs under the square and the implementation of other hydraulic pipes,” he stressed.
Along these lines, he said that in March the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Insular Water Council and the City Council signed an agreement to carry out the works “and this coming year they will begin to walk.”
