The mayor of Arona, Jose Julian Mena, yesterday showed his discrepancy with the construction of the port of Fonsalía, a project that requires an investment of around 200 million euros in the heart of the Special Conservation Area (ZEC), with a great richness and biodiversity of its environment and one of the only three in the world considered as Whale Heritage Site.
“With the reports and studies that we now have on the table, and with the paradigm shift that the pandemic is assuming, as well as the firm commitment to the ecological transition, staying in a position of extreme defense of Fonsalía is a mistake, the mayor has warned, who has recalled that “this infrastructure has the rejection, both of a very important part of society, as well as parties, organizations and academic institutions such as the University of La Laguna itself, which has presented some allegations enlightening. I think it is necessary to listen, participate, reflect and learn ”.
The mayor of Arona recalls that, in the past mandate, the City Council “and the Cabildo began meetings on a port-city fit approach that is inalienable and that, without the need to expand the first, contemplated solutions for inbound and outbound mobility from Los Cristianos; as well as an urban modernization that went through making Chayofita avenue underground, so that road traffic circulates almost to the TF-1 – at the height of El Mojón – in an underground way, while the avenue would remain as a large boulevard with an interchange Of transport”. “All of this,” he added, “with an investment of less than 40 million key euros for Los Cristianos and well below the 200 for Fonsalía.”
José Julián Mena explains that, at the moment, there are serious doubts about the environmental impact of the project, located in the middle of the ZEC of the Teno-Rasca maritime strip and conceived more than two decades ago, in addition to contradicting the European guidelines, which establish that marine economic activities “must be smart, sustainable and equitable. Three questionable elements in this case ”.
The mayor of Arona recalls that there are doubts about the procedure for the environmental impact statement approved by Cotmac in 2014, in addition to a contrary report from the Ministry of Ecological Transition for the same reasons, as well as serious contradictions about the access route to the port and logistics platform.
Mena explains that the road to the infrastructure “would irreversibly damage the agricultural uses of the area.” To all this we must add that this port “would be the fifth in only 25 kilometers of coastline – along with Los Cristianos, Puerto Colón, Playa San Juan and Los Gigantes – and the sixth if we add that of Granadilla to the account. It would also mean pouring 3.8 million cubic meters of materials into the sea during its construction ”.
