The councils of Fasnia and Güímar fully support the decision of the Island Government Council to reject the construction of two wind farms in the Agache region, around the Herques ravine. “Great news. We continue to work on defending our heritage,” is the brief statement with which the mayor of Fasnia, Luis Javier González, celebrated the announcement made by the president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila. The Güímar representative, Gustavo Pérez, emphasized alignment with municipal decisions: “This is how administrations should work together, with coherence and procedures that avoid noise that harms the improvements of the municipalities and the Island.”
The Island Directorate of Territorial Planning, Historical Heritage, and Landscape issued an unfavorable report on the development of the project due to the planned location for the wind turbines and the layout of the power lines for evacuation. All of this affects the
The Projects
DISA Energía Renovable, SLU is promoting the construction of the wind farms El Pilón I and El Pilón II in the Southeast. Submitted by the Directorate General of Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands to the public exposure process for administrative authorization, environmental impact assessment, and declaration of public utility for both projects —whose deadline expired on the 5th— the Ecomarca Sureste Platform (Ecomarca for the Defense and Protection of the Southeast of Tenerife island) announces that the only alternative is “not to build them.” Modifications that move the wind turbines away from protected areas are not acceptable to them.
El Pilón I (Fasnia), with 15 megawatts and four wind turbines, and El Pilón II (Güímar), with 8.5 and two wind turbines, are the two planned wind farms awaiting authorization from the Government of the Canary Islands. They have an investment of 22.3 million euros (14.3 in Fasnia and 8 in Güímar). For their development, they involve 181 plots, and for energy transport, they contemplate the installation of 24 towers throughout their route to the slope of Güímar, from where it goes underground to connect with the substation of the Valle de Güímar Industrial Estate. It even passes through the Malpaís de Güímar, a natural monument.
El Pilón I is located between the road to Fasnia from Los Roques and the Herques ravine. The four wind turbines will be on municipal land, with the nearest urban center, the closest, being a kilometer and a half away from the park’s center. From the Herques ravine to the road to El Escobonal, in Güímar, is where the two wind turbines of El Pilón II will be situated, a kilometer from El Tablado, a town located on the coast of the region, as stated in the projects submitted for public information.
The Double Speech of the PP
The opposition of the Cabildo to this initiative is noteworthy because while in the island Government (CC-PP), the Popular Party rejects the construction of both wind farms, prominent municipal leaders in Güímar show hostility. After learning about the Cabildo’s statement, the local coordinator of the PP, Víctor González, claimed that Rosa Dávila “lies to the public.” He challenges her to bring to the Plenary “denying the public and social interest” of the projects, as it is a competence of that Administration (it is of the Canarian Government), and insists that until that moment, “she lies to the public with all the words.”
It so happens that the PP was the only political group in the Güímar municipal Plenary to vote against the proposal to deny administrative authorization to construct the El Pilón I and El Pilón II wind farms. Their spokesperson, Carmen Luisa Castro (current island coordinator of the Popular Party), contradicted the report arguing opposition to this work by assuring that “it does not correspond to the technical reality of the project,” “exaggerates the affected area,” “the aerial line supports are outside protected land” and “does not affect the Malpaís de Güímar.” In Fasnia, the Plenary (PSOE-CC) was unanimous against these wind farms.
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