Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Introduce Dedicated Bus Lane for Las Teresitas Beach During Heatwaves

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is rethinking how people travel to its coast as traffic congestion on access routes becomes increasingly difficult to manage. Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez announced that the city will introduce a dedicated lane for public transport heading to Las Teresitas beach. This lane will be activated specifically during periods of extreme heat, as declared by the regional government.

While this plan has met with some resistance from residents in San Andrés, the city council says it is necessary to keep buses running on time when beach parking reaches capacity. The mayor noted that while the short notice of weather alerts makes logistics challenging, this trial will help determine if the measure should be used more frequently in the future. The goal is to ensure reliable public transport, even as private vehicles continue to face traffic delays.

The city is also investing 216,000 euros to increase the frequency of bus lines serving the Anaga coastline this summer, aiming to attract 85,000 additional passengers. Permanent improvements are also being made to lines 904, 911, and 944 to encourage another 41,000 urban commuters to use public transit.

These changes come as the city struggles with high vehicle density; with 175,000 registered cars for a population of 200,000, there are more than 800 cars for every 1,000 residents. To address this, the city is developing a new parking ordinance that will introduce "green zones" for residents and "blue zones" for paid parking, though the latter still requires further regulatory approval.

Despite recently adding 300 parking spaces at the beach, the city council acknowledges that building more parking is not the long-term solution. Instead, the municipal strategy focuses on prioritizing public transport and reorganizing public space to better balance private cars with sustainable options like trams, taxis, and personal mobility vehicles.