Arona Council Battles 290 Informal Settlement Cases

Arona City Council is dealing with a difficult problem: managing over 290 cases to make informal settlements legal again. This situation means the council has to use different approaches for areas like Lomo Negro and Los Vivitos, which are growing and becoming more established.

Lomo Negro shows how complicated these efforts are. This settlement is over 30 years old, built on rural land near El Fraile, and home to more than 1,500 people. In October 2024, orders were issued for about twenty illegal homes to be removed, returning the land to its original state within two months. The residents' appeals failed. But in April 2025, the Canary Islands Agency for the Protection of the Natural Environment (ACPMN) stopped the planned demolitions. They said they couldn't guarantee safety after calls for local protests. Now, the courts will decide how these orders will be carried out.

Because of what happened in Lomo Negro, the City Council is now focusing more on Los Vivitos. This area, located above Guaza and next to the TF-1 highway, has grown quickly recently and has about 200 residents. Here, 107 cases have been opened, and 96% of them have already been officially served notice. This is a key step to investigate and, if needed, take action to make things legal. The council's plan is to start these processes early, stopping illegal occupations from becoming established settlements or divided plots, which would make it harder to fix the situation.

At the same time, the Council has officially told the owners of one of these plots (two owners, each with 50%) that they must legally maintain and look after their land. This includes putting up fences around the property and controlling who can access it, as they are responsible for its state and use. Montserrat Ortega, the executive director of the ACPMN, said that this issue needs a combined approach, considering both social and local government aspects. To figure out who is responsible for what, technical meetings have been held with legal and specialized experts. After looking at the types of structures in Los Vivitos – mostly flimsy or unfinished buildings – it was decided that these cases should be handled under local urban planning rules.

The rise of shantytowns and other informal settlements has restarted discussions about how to manage them, especially with a shortage of housing and high tourism demand in the Canary Islands. Some councils in the Canary Islands have dealt with similar issues by mixing urban planning rules with social programs. For example, San Bartolomé de Tirajana in Gran Canaria has launched initiatives to help the homeless and provide alternative housing. In 2025, its Social Services Department created a report on homeless people in the area to understand their situation better and help create effective public policies. The study found that 86.5% of homeless people came from outside the municipality. The local government believes this suggests the problem isn't just local but is linked to wider movement and dynamics within the Archipelago. Similar trends are seen in other island municipalities, though not always backed by specific social studies.

With more than 290 open cases and demolition orders for Lomo Negro awaiting court action, Arona is now trying to stop new settlements from growing and becoming established early on.