Arico Council Moves to Restart Stalled Villa Square Project After Seven-Year Delay
The Arico City Council has finally completed the technical requirements to tender the long-stalled Villa square project, which has remained unfinished for over seven years due to persistent bureaucratic and administrative delays.
Urban planning in Arico, Tenerife, remains stuck in a cycle of administrative uncertainty. According to local reports, the City Council has finally completed the technical requirements to put the project for the unfinished Villa square out to tender—a project that has sat idle for over seven years.
Mayor Andrés Martínez says the process now depends on approval from the municipal plenary session. He noted that bureaucratic hurdles have been the primary reason the project has been at a standstill since May 2019. The original 2015 project, commissioned under the Coalición Canaria administration for over 1.9 million euros, was designed to include a library, a plenary hall, a crypt, and exhibition spaces. However, construction stalled just a year after it began when project managers flagged the need to update the plans to meet current technical regulations.
The project has been a frequent source of political tension. Between 2019 and 2023, the Council set aside over 750,000 euros to try to restart the work. After a change in government in 2023, the current PSOE-PP coalition terminated the original contract and compensated the builder, including a payment of 150,453 euros in September 2024 for electrical work.
Opposition leader Trino Damián Martín (Coalición Canaria) has criticized the current administration, pointing out that they failed to meet their campaign promise to resolve the issue within three months. He has also questioned the recent payments to the contractor and warned that, due to administrative delays, construction may not resume for another two years.
To move forward, the City Council is considering completing the renovation in phases. Mayor Martínez suggested that the outdoor square could be finished first, allowing the perimeter fencing to be removed, while the underground level remains a more complex technical challenge. The situation highlights the ongoing struggle local governments face when large-scale public works are left unfinished, often leading to rising costs and the long-term deterioration of public spaces.