The countdown to the demolition of the old pool of Las Aguas and the improvement of the coastline, in San Juan de la Ramblahas already started. The General Directorate of the Coast and the Seadependent on the Government of Spain, has just awarded the works for €1,865,000 to a Temporary Union of Companies formed by Yárritu SA and Signaling Villar SA. As soon as the start of the works is signed, an execution period of 12 months will begin, so the new image of this northern coastal enclave should be a reality throughout the next year 2024.
The technical project foresees the total demolition and removal of the rubble from the pool so that the coast recovers its original profile. A small square and a pedestrian promenade on two levels will be built on the plot. In addition, there will be new access ramps to the small sandy and rocky beach that exists in the area closest to the cliff.
The pool of Las Aguas it was closed at the beginning of 2010, after concluding the last administrative concession of this space. Since 2006 demolition had been considered to create a great sandy beach, which Costas budgeted at around 5 million euros. That project never got past the environmental impact study phase, the beach was never built and the pool deteriorated day by day.
The sea opened large sinkholes near the foundations of the pool and the entire structure, as well damaged by corrosion, lack of maintenance and vandalismIt threatened to collapse. This project is now focused on eliminating the danger posed by this concrete structure with large walls, a solarium, a kiosk and a three-story building that housed a restaurant, changing rooms and other municipal facilities.
Other discarded projects
Since 2012, any possibility of rehabilitation of the pool has been ruled out. Nor was the idea of demolishing only the pool basin and the solarium area viable to preserve the annex building as an interpretation center linked to the sea and the Site of Community Interest (LIC) Coast of San Juan de la Rambla, which protects the sea caves in the area. This SCI was the main reason why the idea of the large Las Aguas beach was discarded.
Public administrations have been working on this pool demolition project since 2017, when Costas, the Town Hall and the Cabildo de Tenerife They coordinated to execute this demolition, the extension of the promenade and the construction of accesses to the small natural beach.
These three administrations are also working on the pedestrianization of the promenade, which requires the construction of a new street in the southern part of the La Destila road, where they want to build an avenue about 20 meters wide and 170 meters long that will become the new access to the area and a parking space, with between 80 and 100 available spaces. The Ramblero City Council has yet to complete the purchase of the necessary land, which began with a first plot of land in January 2020.
The execution period is 12 months, so the work will end in 2024
The mayor of San Juan de la Rambla, Ezequiel Dominguez (PSOE), held this Thursday, February 23, 2023, the final award of these works, “which may begin when the contract is definitively signed.” While waiting for this fundamental step, the president is confident that there will be no long delays and Las Aguas will be able to be free of the ruins of the pool “throughout 2024.”
“We are happy”
“We are happy because that deteriorated element is finally going to disappear and we are going to be able to recover part of the coast from before. In addition, we continue to work on a global project for Las Aguas which, with the help of the island program Tenerife and the Sea, you will see the entire avenue improve,” the mayor advances. The demolition of another building in a dilapidated state that affects the first line of this road is also planned. In parallel form, the rambler Town Hall the procedures for the new street, which will run behind the houses and restaurants, continue. An ambitious project that began with the purchase of land and that, according to Domínguez, “will require the financial support of other administrations because it is a very important action.”
The change in the image of the coast of Las Aguas “will be very important”, in the opinion of Ezekiel Dominguez, since some ruins that have a great visual impact are going to be eliminated and, in addition, “the old beach of this coastal nucleus will once again gain prominence.” In his opinion, “the residents of this area of the municipality defend the elimination of the old pool because they hope to recover part of the coast and the puddles they knew in the past.”
