The Council of Tenerife requests the protection of the agricultural zone of the special natural reserve of Malpaís de la Rasca. His counselor Antolín Bueno explains that the Corporation supports the expansion of the special natural reserve “excluding the land currently dedicated to agricultural activity, in line with what was decided by the Tenerife Wine Island Table” and by the Association of Farmers and Ranchers of Canary Islands (Asaga Canarias Asaja).
Antolín Bueno defends that «it is necessary to protect and save agricultural land. He Parliament of the Canary Islands It intends to extend the protection of the current 312 hectares to 557 hectares, ignoring the agricultural activity that takes place in the northwestern part, which is why we have presented this motion.”
In the agreement, the Cabildo urges the Parliament of the Canary Islands to review the urgency of Law Proposal 10L/PPL-0013 on the extension of the limits of the special natural reserve of Malpaís de la Rasca, excluding from it the land currently dedicated to agricultural activity, while this use is maintained.
Through Law 12/1987, of June 19, on the Declaration of Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands, the Malpaís de la Rasca was classified as a Natural Area of National Interest, within the scope of the Autonomous Community, and reclassified to a Special Natural Reserve by Law 12/1994, of December 19, on Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands.
The predominant crop in the Malpaís de la Rasca is the vineyard, with an occupation of 25 hectares in which such emblematic varieties are cultivated as the aromatic malvasía, marmajuelo and muscatel of Alexandria.
They also include facilities, such as a winery that can be visited or farmer’s houses, warehouses for agricultural equipment and machinery, irrigation rooms, hydrants and water tanks, as well as other crops: 15 hectares of banana trees under greenhouse, about three hectares of avocado and 18 hectares of vegetables under execution to adapt the soils to future vineyard plantations. The grape production obtained from these 25 hectares currently represents 10% of the Abona Denomination of Origin.
In this regard, Antolín Bueno points out that “the developed agricultural project is perfectly structured to achieve a relevant wine tourism activity, with the vision of integrating the environmental values of the adjacent reserve with the agronomic ones, managing to revalue agriculture thanks to the tourist vocation of the municipalities of Arona and Adeje».
The president of Asaga Canarias Asaja, Ángela Delgado, expressed at the time the confidence of the sector that the Government of the Canary Islands exclude agricultural activity from the limitations that will be imposed on land use once the reserve is expanded and from the consequent economic loss and employment. “We are not against the expansion, but we are against the new regulations preventing the normal development of viticulture in this area.”
