Santa Cruz Council Rejects Fencing for Cruz del Señor Square Despite Resident Complaints

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is struggling to balance keeping public spaces open and accessible with the need to stop illegal activity. According to the newspaper El Día, the City Council has rejected requests from residents in the Cruz del Señor neighborhood to fence off the local church square. Residents have been asking for a perimeter fence to stop an illegal street market and public drug and alcohol use, which they say has been a problem for five years and is negatively impacting local children and the elderly.

Carlos Tarife, the First Deputy Mayor, argues that fencing the area is not the answer. Instead, he believes the solution lies in a stronger police presence. This approach contrasts with how the city has handled similar issues in other neighborhoods. In Divina Pastora, where residents have also raised concerns about drug trafficking and prostitution, the City Council has taken a different route. There, officials have agreed to improve street lighting and block off certain stairways to make it harder for criminal activity to take place.

This inconsistency highlights the difficulty of managing troubled public spaces. While the city is using "secure design" strategies—like better lighting and structural changes—to reclaim Divina Pastora, it remains firm against closing off the square in Cruz del Señor. For now, the burden of cleaning up that area rests entirely on the Local Police and their ability to shut down unauthorized street sales.