Association Demands Dismantling of Santa Cruz Bike Lanes, "Urban Zone"

The neighbourhood association El Perenquén and lawyer Felipe Campos yesterday called on Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council to dismantle the new cycling network in the city centre and get back the almost 2 million euros spent on it. They want the council to end its contract with the company whose work on the project was stopped in November by the Canary Islands High Court (TSJC).

They made a similar demand about the "Urban Zone," warning they would take legal action if the council doesn't reopen the pedestrian streets in the city centre to traffic. These streets are currently blocked off by bollards and planters, which they say limit people's freedom to move around.

Campos explained that since the new Mobility ordinance was cancelled – which led to the bike lane project being halted – it's now illegal to keep the "Urban Zone" in place. This zone was set up in the 1990s without proper legal backing. He said the cancelled ordinance was an attempt to make it legal, but now that the rule is gone, the Urban Zone must be removed, just like the bike lane.

Speaking about the cycling network, Campos explained that the City Council recently dropped its appeal to the Supreme Court against the ruling that cancelled the ordinance. He believes the council must now take these steps. If the council doesn't comply, he said they would "initiate enforcement action," meaning they'll take legal steps to ensure compliance.

Campos reminded everyone that in March, after a complaint from El Perenquén, the TSJC cancelled the Mobility ordinance. It was cancelled because it didn't have a proper regulatory impact report and because it restricted people's freedoms. Since this rule, which also covered the cycling network, was overturned, the association asked for the judgment to be provisionally enforced. They specifically demanded that work on the city centre bike lanes be stopped as a precautionary measure.

However, Campos warned that the City Council plans to try again to introduce the bike lane through a new ordinance currently being drafted. He argued that this new attempt also "lacks legitimacy from a democratic point of view" because it aims to bring in a restrictive measure that "everyone is against."

Campos also pointed out that their appeal against the new Low Emission Zone (ZBE) is "still ongoing." He claimed this measure, supposedly to reduce pollution, is "false because there isn't any" pollution to reduce. Instead, he believes it "only seeks to eliminate cars and parking spaces in the city."

Silvia Barrera, president of El Perenquén, called it "extremely serious" that the City Council is making decisions that affect over 9,000 residents and businesses in the city centre.