Las Teresitas: Lawyers accuse the authorities of inaction and demand development for locals, not tourists.

Las Teresitas beach should be as the locals of Santa Cruz, those who relax on the beach, and the residents of San Andrés want to see it. We don't need more hotels; there are enough of them in Tenerife. The beach and everything around it is one of the few places on the island that has not turned into a continuous tourist area. There is none of the crazy development that we see in other corners. Las Teresitas is our pride because it has preserved its uniqueness. Less is better here, but of higher quality.

This is the opinion of lawyers José Pérez Ventura and Antonio Espinosa, who represent the "Justice and Society" Association. A few years ago, they were public prosecutors in the so-called "Las Teresitas case." Now they are expressing their dissatisfaction with the plans of the Santa Cruz city authorities regarding the area behind the San Andrés battery. This land belongs to the state and is currently intended for tourist needs. But the city council wants to expand its use, for example, to build a social and medical center or housing there.

Both lawyers criticize the "incompetence of the city council in managing this area and the development of the beach." Pérez Ventura recalls that in 2019, the verdict in the "Las Teresitas case" came into force, and in 2020, the property of some of the accused passed into the ownership of the city. "It turns out that for the past five years, the city council has had the money to put the beach in order and do what the locals need. But they did nothing. Time has been wasted, even though the money was there!"

He also emphasized that "it is not true that a hotel needs to be built in order to improve the beach with the money from its sale. The money is already there!"

In his opinion, the discussion was artificially inflated "to hide the inability of José Manuel Bermúdez (CC) and Carlos Tarife (PP) to organize the development of the beach and surrounding areas." He also recalled that Patricia Hernández (PSOE), when she was mayor in 2019-2020, supported the construction of a hotel and a "huge shopping center." "We were categorically against it then, and now, in opposition, she is saying something completely different," he noted.

Regarding the city council's plans to allow other uses of the site, for example, for social and medical needs, they say they are not against it if everything is done correctly. "We believe that it is better not to do anything at all, or to intervene minimally. We are categorically against the construction of hotels and a shopping center. We want people to buy goods in local San Andrés stores."

In any case, they believe that it is necessary to make "improvements that the locals need: outdoor sports grounds, convenient access roads, well-planned parking lots, normal public transport, a pedestrian promenade or a bicycle path. If this is needed anywhere in Santa Cruz, it is here, and not where it is being built now."

Therefore, they ask city officials to "start working, because they are already late. We have lost five years, during which it was possible to equip the beach, thinking about the locals, and not about the tourism business."

José Pérez Ventura emphasizes that there is already money for the improvement of the beach, obtained from the return of assets in the amount of 95 million euros. This money was returned after 15 years of litigation "thanks to the prosecutor's office, public prosecutors and the court, which issued a verdict that allowed the return of stolen money with interest." He insists that "they had five years to do everything, but nothing has been done. The fact is that they simply do not know how to manage," he assures.

José Pérez Ventura criticizes the city authorities for not meeting the needs of the beach and surrounding areas, and for the lack of management. He asks the mayor and his team to "finally start working. Some of them spend more time on Facebook than managing the city. We need not influencers, but people who know how to manage," he claims.