Güímar Council to Greenlight Valle de Güímar Industrial Body

The rules for the new Urban Conservation Body of the Valle de Güímar Industrial Park are currently being approved. Güímar City Council is the only one left to give its approval, which it will do on the 23rd when its full council votes on the matter.

This comes more than two months after Candelaria City Council approved the document on October 31. In Candelaria, PSOE, PP, and Vox voted in favour, while Unidas Sí Podemos abstained. Arafo City Council approved the rules in mid-November.

The Cabildo (Island Government), through its Department of Industry, is behind this plan. Its Island Council first approved the rules on October 29. After this, the rules must be made public in all three towns involved: Candelaria, Arafo, and Güímar.

A key part of this new body is how it will be funded. The Cabildo and the local councils will cover 55% of its costs, with the remaining 45% coming from the landowners within the industrial park.

Manuel Fernández, the Island Councilor for Industry, said in a statement that the Cabildo will put in an initial 200,000 euros. This will be combined with 250,000 euros from the current Mixed Association of the Industrial Park, which is in the process of being dissolved.

Güímar's slight delay in approving the rules won't hold up the overall process much. Meanwhile, Güímar City Council is also starting plans to expand the industrial park by 300,000 square meters. This expansion would be on the mountain side of the Southern Highway, between the Arafo access and the Socorro bridge. The goal is to create a new commercial area, a proposal already approved by the local government.

The Valle de Güímar Industrial Park currently covers over two million square meters. Of this, nearly 360,000 square meters (17.72%) are in Candelaria, about 600,000 square meters (29.30%) are in Güímar, and Arafo, the smallest of the three towns, holds over one million square meters (52.98%). This makes it Tenerife's most important industrial complex. The new Urban Conservation Body is expected to be in place next year.

Separately, the Cabildo and Adeje City Council are signing a deal to improve the Barranco de Las Torres Industrial Park, according to Manuel Fernández, the Island Councilor for Industry. Over 1.5 million euros will be spent on various improvements. These include moving tree planting areas to the sides of roads and fixing pavements to make them more accessible for pedestrians. They will also install an irrigation system for new trees, choosing plants with roots that don't spread widely, and repairing both pavements and roads.

Also, fire hydrants will be replaced and increased to meet safety standards. The water supply network will also be partly fixed, as many sections are old and damaged, leading to frequent breaks and leaks. On Charfa and Barranco del Burro streets, old sodium vapor streetlights will be replaced with modern LED lights to cut down on electricity use.