The Canarian Nationalist parliamentary group, at the request of the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, will present at the next plenary session of the Canary Islands Parliament, which will be held on November 7 and 8, a non-law proposal related to the need that him old spa of the capitallocated on the San Andrés highway, near María Jiménez, be reopened as an Anaga health center.
Bermúdez announced, in statements to DIARIO DE AVISOS, that, “with this motion, what we intend is that the spa does not continue to deteriorate further. For this reason, we ask the plenary session of the Chamber to urge the Government of the Canary Islands, owner of the property, to draft the project that allows the rehabilitation of the building and allocate the budget allocation for its use as a health center, providing coverage for the entire area. which currently serves the Casa del Mar.”
The mayor pointed out that “this initiative is fully compatible with other future uses that may be carried out of a social or citizen nature in said building. But, in any case, it is urgent that the Canarian Health Service and the Government of the Canary Islands undertake its rehabilitation as soon as possible.”
In this sense, he recalled that the spa is an emblematic building, the work of Domingo Pisaca, and, “from the historical and symbolic point of view for the city, it reflects a life in Santa Cruz that was lost and that revolved around the activities that they were carried out there.”
According to what the nationalist group explains in the non-legal proposal that it will defend in the parliamentary plenary session and to which DIARIO DE AVISOS has had access, “the spa is an example of rationalist architecture from the 1930s, which is found today in the municipal catalog of protected assets and is part of the history of the city that must be preserved for future generations.”
This characteristic building was promoted at the end of the 1920s by Mayor García Sanabria for the enjoyment of the city and, for decades, it was the most cutting-edge leisure center in the capital and the Island, it housed the first public swimming pool and It was the birthplace of Olympic swimming.
The work was commissioned to Domingo Pisaca, who decided to design it following the rationalist current that was beginning to emerge in Europe, making it an example of advanced architecture for the time and for the country. It also has an attached residence, the José Miguel Delgado Rizo Education and Rest residence, which dates back to the 1950s and where workers, mainly from the island, spent their summers – although it was also open to travelers – always at affordable prices. popular.
But, above all, it is a place closely linked to the memory of several generations of Santa Cruz residents, who found in its facilities a place of meeting and recreation, which helped improve the quality of life and health of its users.
The spa closed its doors in 1992 and, since then, the different municipal governments have tried, without success, to commit the necessary financing from the different administrations to rehabilitate and give the building an appropriate use consistent with the development and current needs. of the city and the municipality.
Of the government
Currently, the old spa of Santa Cruz de Tenerife belongs to the Government of the Canary Islands, which has owned the property since 2013, when it was transferred by the State. In fact, it is attached to the Ministry of Health, whose officials expressed in the last legislature their intention to install the future Anaga health center in the building, which is currently located in the facilities of what was Casa del Mar.
It is worth remembering that the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council approved in full a motion on the future uses of the space, among which it was agreed that it would be a health center, supported by the groups and associations grouped in the collective Speak, Together for San Andrés and by the Tagoror of the Anaga District. The space is also compatible with other uses, socio-health or sports.
In addition, the Government of the Canary Islands was urged to fulfill its commitment to undertake the works to reinforce the facilities to enable their rehabilitation and future uses.
