Santa Cruz Residents Oppose Proposed Homeless Shelter in Diego Crosa Building
The La Arboleda neighborhood association in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has formally rejected a proposal to convert the Diego Crosa building into a homeless shelter, citing concerns over its proximity to sensitive facilities and the area's existing social service burden.
Tensions are rising over the future of the Diego Crosa building in the Santos ravine after the La Arboleda neighborhood association voiced strong opposition to a new proposal. The group, representing the Uruguay, Las Acacias, and Salamanca districts, has rejected a plan by the Urban Centro El Perenquén platform to turn the property into a homeless shelter.
This dispute highlights the ongoing struggle between the city’s social needs and its urban planning goals. While the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council intends to transform the building into a "Digital Hub" for animation and video game companies, the residents’ push for a shelter has sparked significant backlash from the local community.
La Arboleda opposes the shelter due to the building's proximity to sensitive locations, including a primary school, a nursing home, and the Febles Campos Psychiatric Hospital. Residents also point to their history of living near the Canary Islands' main drug dependency treatment center for nearly 50 years. They argue that adding another social service facility to the area would be an unfair burden that was never discussed with the community.
Beyond these concerns, the association questions whether the building is technically suitable for such a facility. Residents are also wary of long-term management, citing the Los Gladiolos Municipal Reception Center as an example. They argue that what was originally planned as a peripheral facility eventually became integrated into the neighborhood, leading to conflicts they are determined to avoid in their own district.
In response, La Arboleda has called a general assembly for next Thursday. The meeting aims to finalize a unified stance and plan potential protests should the shelter proposal move forward. While the association acknowledges the urgent need for homeless housing, they maintain that such facilities should be located in peripheral areas better suited to handle them, away from densely populated residential zones.