Santa Cruz Completes Legal Cleanup of 4,482 Public Assets

Santa Cruz has completed a full survey of all its public properties, identifying a total of 4,482 registered assets. These assets are categorized as public domain (3,801), patrimonial (672), and public land (9).

This total comes from a report by a company hired by the Municipal Assets and Treasury departments, led by Javier Rivero and José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez. According to Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez, the report covers "phase II" of the process, outlining suggested changes – additions, deletions, and modifications – to the official list of municipal assets and rights, and updating the visual records of these properties.

The mayor added that the City Council has finished a groundbreaking project in the Canary Islands: legally cleaning up its asset inventory. This process began in March 2023 with the company ATM Grupo Maggioli and cost 209,468 euros.

Javier Rivero explained that the Governing Board has approved the documents proposing these changes to the municipal inventory. He called this a crucial step, moving the project into its final stage, which aims to make the City Council's asset records more reliable and accurate.

He noted that this work has achieved something new: a complete, updated, and legally verified "X-ray" of all municipal assets. This makes Santa Cruz a leader in public asset management within the Canary Islands.

The inventory process uncovered 28,000 inconsistencies that needed to be checked and corrected. To do this, information was cross-referenced with the Urban Planning Department, adding data on land seizures and urban development. They also worked with the public housing company, Viviendas Municipales, which supplied details from "Office 31M" concerning operations after the flood on March 31, 2002.

A major challenge was making sure ownership details matched between the municipal inventory, the Cadastre (land registry), and the Property Registry. This involved finding properties listed as municipal but not officially registered, as well as properties listed under the City Council in the Cadastre but lacking supporting paperwork.

A new feature of the project is organizing the inventory by district. This makes it easier for technical services and residents to study and search for information. Additionally, the city's geographical information system (GIS) map has been updated, aligning its data with the Cadastre Management, which will help with future planning.

During this cleanup, duplicate assets and those no longer owned by the city were removed. The team also tackled several complicated ownership or boundary issues. These included properties bought after the March 31 flood, the property on Diego Crosas street, the original properties of the Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA) before they were combined, and properties on Mount Las Mesas.

Rivero concluded that this work not only provides an exact record of the City Council's assets but also ensures they are properly managed and legally protected, which is vital for good asset management.