The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, announced this Friday that, starting January 2025, access for large tourist coaches to the Anaga Massif will be prohibited, in order to “address the concerns of the thousands of residents and visitors” in these areas. This forms part of the 70 initiatives revealed this Friday in the plenary session of the Cabildo, where the “outdated model” of mobility on the island has been phased out, to be replaced by a new framework consisting of seven axes, which, according to Dávila, has already resulted in the elimination of 23 million vehicle journeys in the past 15 months.
The PSOE, which has expressed scepticism regarding these figures, has requested documentation that substantiates them, while Dávila emphasised the introduction of free public transport, resulting in 7,000 additional bus journeys. It is worth noting that Dávila campaigned for the 2023 elections with a pledge to eliminate bottlenecks on the roads within just 90 days, but has since acknowledged that the situation is “complex.”
The president has defended her Government’s “courage” in tackling the “challenge” that the island faces, which not only involves “exploiting the territory” with new roads but also “thinking innovatively” with a “new perspective” that enhances mobility on the island.
She has urged opposition parties to “work collaboratively” and unite in a major agreement for sustainable mobility in Tenerife, as there are projects which “extend beyond a single legislative term” and require a “significant transformation.”
The Anaga initiative, announced this Friday during the extraordinary plenary session of the Cabildo of Tenerife, will run alongside the establishment of a park and ride facility in Las Canteras, in collaboration with the La Laguna City Council, aimed at reducing traffic access to the Anaga Massif, a protected natural area in Tenerife.
During her address in the extraordinary session, the president also mentioned this initiative for Masca, although she did not clarify whether it would be implemented in 2025.
At the start of this plenary session focused on mobility and roads, the island president highlighted the 70 measures, outlined across seven different areas, which have already been put into action by the island institution in conjunction with various social stakeholders to tackle the issue of sustainable mobility, as prompted by the Socialist group.
She underscored the 243 million euros that will be allocated in the 2025 budget to address one of the island’s significant challenges, sustainable mobility and congestion, a figure that marks an increase of “8% compared to the last budget approved by the Socialist Group in the previous term.”
Dávila has stressed the “efficacy” of the measures enacted by the Cabildo, coupled with the encouragement of inter-administrative collaboration to address “key strategic links” in areas with high traffic, such as efforts to ease access to the Güímar Industrial Estate.
She indicated that within the new island administration (CC and PP), there is a “desire for consensus” regarding “one of the island’s major challenges,” reinforcing the necessity for “an accurate assessment” to confront these significant issues through the Island Plan for Sustainable Mobility in Tenerife.
The island president has announced that, as part of this Plan, Tenerife has the cooperation of over 60 stakeholders, who have convened up to four times already, with the fifth meeting scheduled for November 26 to assess the measures implemented thus far.
“In Tenerife, there have been over 3.5 million daily vehicle journeys. Our population is still increasing, and as we are situated on an island that must be preserved, we cannot expand indefinitely,” Dávila added.
The commitment to sustainability by the Cabildo of Tenerife, led by the Canarian Coalition and the Popular Party, focuses on enhancing public transport, which has resulted in “23 million fewer journeys in private vehicles”, because, he pointed out, “93% of trips are made by locals.”
“Over a million trips occur in the metropolitan area (…). This is crucial for understanding the solutions, as 89% of these journeys are made in private vehicles with an average occupancy rate of 1.3,” he mentioned.
He also announced that, starting in 2025, a shuttle bus service will be introduced to the Hospital del Norte in Tenerife, improving mobility effectively, while recalling that an agreement with the Canarian Health Service will soon facilitate the accessibility of health services in 10 days.
Furthermore, he stated that four park-and-ride facilities would be opened, two on the TF-1 and another two on the TF-5, commencing in 2025, while the organisation is currently evaluating the potential establishment of up to 22 additional locations of this kind to enhance “the connection with public transport on these island routes.”
Dávila also mentioned the signing of a partnership agreement with the DGT aimed at improving efficiency in responding to traffic accidents, which will facilitate the subsequent tender for tow trucks within 15 minutes, thus alleviating congestion caused by incidents on the motorways.
Regarding the intelligent access system for the motorways in Tenerife, which would redirect to alternative roads in case of traffic congestion using artificial intelligence tools, the first pilot project is expected to be implemented between 2025 and 2026, specifically in the initial phase between Santa Úrsula and La Laguna, Rosa Dávila announced.
Additionally, a collaboration with the La Laguna City Council is planned to introduce two pilot projects for school transport, aimed at avoiding and reducing trips during peak hours in the forthcoming 2025-2026 academic year.
“Failure” in terms of mobility, according to the PSOE
The leader of the Socialist Group in the Tenerife Cabildo, Pedro Martín, explained this Thursday, ahead of an extraordinary plenary session, that while carrying out works is necessary, there are mobility projects that could alleviate traffic queues, which were previously promised by the island president but have yet to be implemented, as well as lost European funding.
Martín reviewed the commitments made by Rosa Dávila concerning mobility (scheduling staggered arrivals and departures at major workplaces, tow trucks responding to accidents within 15 minutes, decentralising public services, and increasing school transport) to conclude that none have been actioned. He noted that the shuttle services are being used by tourists, for whom they were not intended, and, at best, fulfil only 5% of the total student demand, leading to significant accessibility issues.
The general secretary of the Tenerife PSOE recalled that the initiated “pilot” projects have been evidently unsuccessful, such as the closure of access to the TF-5 through Guamasa, where the improvements promised to be ready by September 2024 have not materialised.
