The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila (Canarian Coalition), stated this Wednesday that “the agreement is still being refined” with the Government of the Canary Islands concerning the final version of the Master Plan for the Use and Management of Teide National Park (PRUG). These consensual amendments are being worked on to be integrated into the document before being submitted to the Board of Trustees of the National Park for subsequent approval.
The PRUG document presented in March 2022 triggered significant controversy because of the opposition it faced across various sectors and even within the Cabildo Government team, which was led at the time by Pedro Martín (PSOE). The plan, advocated by the then Minister of Ecological Transition, José Antonio Valbuena, included numerous controversial points, such as traffic control and parking regulations, as well as restrictions on certain activities including audiovisual filming, sports, and beekeeping. According to the Canarian Government at that time, the aim was to protect and conserve the National Park, while simultaneously increasing the number of visitors permitted to access Teide peak without providing enhanced surveillance. At that stage, CC labelled it an “atrocity” and demanded its retraction, a sentiment also echoed by the PP. Moreover, Podemos and Nueva Canarias expressed their hesitance towards the document due to its failure to offer “effective solutions regarding material and human resources” necessary for its protection and preservation.
In light of the flood of complaints, the Canarian Government had to prolong the public exhibition phase.
Dávila has now elaborated that the new Cabildo government team has faced “disagreements” concerning the prior PRUG document and that “currently, we are in the process of smoothing out contentious areas or aspects where consensus was lacking regarding that document, which originated from the previous government, both the regional government and the Cabildo,” she conveyed in a press conference summarising the government’s council agreements.
“All this effort,” the island president affirmed, has been gradually unfolding over recent months, and when “there is an agreed document,” it will be submitted to the Board of Trustees of Teide National Park for subsequent approval by the Government of the Canary Islands.
She cited negotiations surrounding elements included in the previous document, such as the clause that “strictly prohibited the filming of advertisements and movies in the Park that were not aimed at promoting it for scientific purposes”: “We, along with the current Government of the Canary Islands, did not concur with that. Thus, we need to revisit its wording and determine to what extent and how this activity can be conducted.”
“Several points have been addressed to ensure there is a consensual text, whereby the conservation and safeguarding of the Park are never jeopardised,” concluded Dávila, who, although she did not specify timelines, has confirmed that we are already “in the final stretch.”
