“What I will not permit as president of the Cabildo of La Gomera is for another twenty years to pass merely discussing advertising messages; I desire tangible outcomes,” Casimiro Curbelo declared last Friday. Within a day, her counterpart at the helm of the Tenerife Island Corporation, Rosa Dávila, replied: “I am the president of Tenerife; I have already informed him once that he governs the island of La Gomera, but Tenerife has its own president.” This political ‘collision’ is rooted in a port proposal that has been on the table since at least 1995 for construction in Fonsalía (Guía de Isora). The pivotal point lies in the drastic shift in stance of the Canary Coalition party, which had supported this infrastructure for decades but has recently turned against it, much to the frustration of Curbelo and the dismay of local business leaders. Adding to the complexity, the decision of a staunch supporter of the project, Pedro Martín, not to seek re-election as the current general secretary of the PSOE in Tenerife (which is the party with the most votes on the island) brings uncertainty regarding socialist backing, as perspectives within his party vary. Notably, Curbelo’s initiative, which involves organising a demonstration in front of the Cabildo de Tenerife if a clear resolution to the connectivity issues in the Green Islands—referring to La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro—is not achieved by next August, has received a responsive nod from Dávila, who noted that “it must be expressed.”
So that
Many residents of Tenerife are bewildered by the proposal for a new port in the South while Granadilla still lacks the resources necessary for full operation, such as the essential tugboats, despite investments amounting to 200 million euros. Unsurprisingly, among those Tenerife residents, you will not find the beleaguered users of the port of Los Cristianos (Arona), as neither the infrastructure itself nor the urban planning of this locality is sufficient to accommodate the considerable traffic of people and goods that has persisted since the last century. It goes without saying that the Gomeros are among the primary victims of the continual congestion in Los Cristianos, which serves as their main access point to Tenerife via any means. This impasse in Los Cristianos was precisely what led to the alternative proposal in Fonsalía nearly 30 years ago, coinciding with the election year of a young socialist politician as mayor of Guía de Isora—none other than the aforementioned Pedro Martín.
Curbelo, also the general secretary of the Gomera Socialist Group (ASG), a party that enjoys substantial electoral backing on Isla Colombina, as well as support from the business association, has consistently advocated for the project. Notably, the president of the provincial CEOE, Pedro Afonso, championed the project as essential in November 2023, while Roberto Ucelay (CEST) reminded that since 1995, constructing a port in Fonsalía has been regarded as a “strategic project” within the Tenerife Infrastructure Plan.
Even Fernando Clavijo, the secretary general of the Canary Coalition and currently the president of the Canary Islands, asserted in 2019 that this port was “crucial and strategic” for the development of La Gomera, El Hierro, and La Palma islands when addressing a query posed by Curbelo in the regional Assembly.
Why not
To appreciate Clavijo’s parliamentary remarks, it’s important to contextualise them by acknowledging that, at that point, the Fonsalía port project had already hit a roadblock owing to opposition from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. This was based on a scathing report indicating that the project would fail to comply with European legislation, as the declaration of “general interest” is not substantiated due to feasible alternatives that pose lower environmental and economic costs, such as “reorganising the maritime and terrestrial traffic of the port of Los Cristianos.”
As various political factions, including Nueva Canarias, Podemos, Sí se puede, and Drago, alongside numerous environmental groups, have persistently pointed out, the potential impact of the proposed infrastructure would directly threaten the entire marine region stretching from Teno (north) to Rasca (south), which is classified under the European Union Habitats Directive as a Special Conservation Area (SAC) due to the presence of species in a “critical” status, such as the bottlenose dolphin and the loggerhead sea turtle. To compound this, the North Atlantic region is home to one of the largest known resident colonies of the short-finned pilot whale, a unique cetacean that has required protection from relentless tourist maritime intrusions for decades.
However, despite Clavijo promising Curbelo in 2019 that the Canary Islands Government would “dismantle point by point” the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s unfavourable report regarding the Fonsalía port, two years later, CC aligned with the then-government parties in the Canary Islands Parliament, notably NC and Podemos, to vote against the project in a unique bill where PSOE abstained. Regarding the shift in CC’s position, Rosa Dávila clarified this week that there is now “more information and studies” compared to 25 years ago when the Fonsalía port was proposed, leading to her party’s clear opposition to what they perceive as “environmental assaults.”
The project
The blueprint for Fonsalía encompasses an island-type port platform featuring five docking lines for large vessels, a fishing dock, 200 dry dock spaces, and 467 dock spaces in the leisure sector, all within a coastal area exceeding 222,000 square metres. Initial public investment is projected to amount to 200 million euros, with processing of this proposal commencing nearly 30 years ago.
Comments made by Pedro Suárez, president of the Tenerife Port Authority, back in October 2023 are also noteworthy. From a port perspective, Suárez argued that with Fonsalía, “we would transform Los Cristianos into a Canarian port with a prominent yacht and megayacht marina, benefiting the city.” Politically, he highlighted that, as it stands, he concurs with Arona’s mayor, Fátima Lemes (PP), asserting that Los Cristianos “gains no advantage” from its port, as it endures unceasing traffic issues originating from that area. Not to mention, he likely refrained from mentioning the evident strains experienced by the residents of this Arona locality due to the relentless traffic jams.
The future
The future remains uncertain. There exist ample justifications to oppose the Fonsalía port, just as there are compelling reasons to seek a resolution to the obstructions caused by the inadequacies of the Los Cristianos port regarding the connectivity of the Green Islands. Currently, there is no port, but rather a ‘collision’ of interests.
