Three months, 93 days, and 2,232 hours. That is the duration for which the Playa Jardín area, the primary bathing location in Puerto de la Cruz, has remained closed due to the presence of faecal discharges in its waters, labelled “one of the most significant environmental disasters in the Canary Islands” by Cande Padilla, the vice president of the Punta Brava Stop Spills into the Sea platform, during a press conference yesterday.
During this period, local residents and business owners “who have met their duties as citizens by paying taxes and fees,” have endured the repercussions of a long-standing issue that adversely impacts their health and finances, with no competent authority providing a remedy or even identifying a diagnosis, he lamented.
As a result, they have demanded accountability from all public authorities (Government of Spain, the Canary Islands, Cabildo de Tenerife, and the City Council of Puerto de la Cruz), whom they also accuse of “a lack of transparency” regarding this situation and of “placing blame” on the residents of Punta Brava “when, in truth, we are the victims,” he emphasised.
Padilla referenced comments made by the island president, Rosa Dávila, who claimed on Monday that the spills originated not from a ruptured underwater outfall, but rather from the absence of connections to the sewage network for the 450 self-built homes in Punta Brava, which have escalated the load on the treatment facility, now operating at its maximum capacity since it also manages wastewater from La Orotava and Los Realejos.
Padilla was joined by the president of the platform, Tania Hernández; spokesperson Yanira Hernández, and member Deiere Rodríguez. In this context, he highlighted that the documents and analyses conducted by various organisations and companies they accessed have revealed deficiencies in the water purification service in the area “for over 15 years,” which have resulted in pollution levels exceeding permitted limits by 48 times.
Furthermore, he pointed out “the mistakes” that severely jeopardised the health of countless individuals who frequented this bathing area. Specifically, he noted that the City Council instituted the beach closure on July 4, a mere 13 days after receiving a report from the General Directorate of Public Health of the Government of the Canary Islands on June 21, which advised against bathing due to poor water quality caused by sewage discharges, adding that “elevated levels of faecal contamination pose a risk of disease.” During this interval, “thousands of individuals swam, particularly on June 23, when the City Council hosted numerous large-scale events for the Night of San Juan,” Yanira Hernández recalled.
Numerous inquiries posed by the Platform yesterday remain unanswered, such as the discrepancies between the results from the Insular Water Council (Ciatf) and those from the company contracted by the City Council. Furthermore, they questioned why CIATF took “four years” to rectify the leak of the emissary, completing the repair only on August 1.
According to Rodríguez, this repair project is still incomplete and ineffective, as it continues to discharge sewage just as it did from day one, stemming from an outdated treatment plant that fails to purify,” he asserted.
