After 15 years have passed since the El Toscal neighborhood was declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC), with the category of historical complex, yesterday, the plenary session of the capital’s City Council gave the final approval, for the second time (the previous one was annulled), to the document that will convert “the old town of Santa Cruz into an old town”. This was defined by the current Town Planning Councilor, Guillermo Díaz Guerra (PP), who obtained the unanimous support of all the groups in Plenary for the file for final approval.
The document approved yesterday will allow, within a period of 15 days, which is the time it will take to enter into force, to begin the expropriations, valued at more than 10 million, to carry out the planned municipal endowments, such as squares, parking lots, lanes bike or the pedestrianization of the main streets. “In the 2023 budget there are already some items for expropriations in El Toscal, on a multi-year basis, due to their high amount, we have even started some files,” Díaz Guerra explained to DIARIO DE AVISOS at the end of the plenary session.
Among those files is the one around the well-known Pensión Cejas, where a plaza will be located. “In addition, since the Plan is approved, the owners can request expropriation, and, as far as I know, already ten years ago, with the first drafts, there were people interested in this option, so it is to be expected that now they will also The Hague,” added the councilor.
Areas such as Public Services are already projecting the pedestrianization of the first street of El Toscal, that of Santiago, after the approval of the Special Plan. A document that will also undertake the pedestrianization of San Miguel, San Antonio, Gaspar Hernández and Pasaje Primero Ravina, and maintains the pedestrian character of Pasaje Segundo Ravina and Pasaje Pisaca
As detailed by Díaz Guerra, the Special Plan provides for the construction of four public access car parks, new facilities and free public spaces in the surroundings of the Pisaca and Lázaro houses, or the incorporation of green roofs in new public and private actions that promote the urban green network.
Endowments and equipment
With regard to endowments and equipment, the creation of a workshop school stands out, which will be located on block 253, with an entrance from San Miguel street; the construction of a kindergarten to be developed in the old citadel on Señor de las Tribulaciones street, or a sports center built on two levels, one at the current ground level and a second level below it, at the semi-basement level. This last infrastructure will be dedicated to the training and competition of the federative sport. Under this sporting use a car park is planned.
But, without a doubt, the urban protection of the properties of El Toscal is one of the best news, going from barely a hundred in the first drafts, in which, as the socialist José Ángel Martín recalled, even towers were projected, it has gone to more than 300 in the document that was approved yesterday.
