Santa Cruz will allocate €31.7 million to the Transportation Control Center and other projects, despite opposition.
The Santa Cruz City Council has approved the allocation of 31.7 million euros of budget funds, including for the Traffic Control Center, despite opposition that considers it premature without approved regulations for the low-emission zone.
Yesterday, the Santa Cruz City Council, in an emergency session, decided how to spend 31.7 million euros from the budget. The money will go to various projects, including the creation of a Traffic Control Center. It will be located in a new building on General Antekera Street.
Despite protests from the opposition (PSOE and Vox parties), the budget changes were supported. Prior to this, a complaint from the local association Urban-El Perenquén was rejected. They believe that it is not possible to spend almost 4 million on a Traffic Control Center that is supposed to monitor a low-emission zone (ZBE), since the rules for this zone have not yet been approved and are being challenged in court.
Socialist representative Patricia Hernández noted that El Perenquén's complaint was not simply rejected, but deemed inadmissible. In her opinion, until there are clear rules for the ZBE, it would be possible to wait with the funding of the Control Center. Vox representative Alejandro Gómez agreed with her, asking: "What will happen to this money if the rules for the ZBE are never approved?"
The mayor of the city, José Manuel Bermúdez, replied that Santa Cruz needs a modern Control Center that will monitor the situation on the roads in real time. This will help to manage traffic lights more efficiently and respond to emergencies. And this is necessary regardless of whether the ZBE is implemented, because it is a requirement of the state.
Financial Affairs Advisor José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez added that the money will also go to:
- 5.8 million – for the construction of parking lots;
- 2 million – for changing the design of the Viera y Clavijo park;
- 2 million – for street repairs in the Ciudad Jardín and Santa María del Mar districts;
- 462,917 euros – for the construction of the Port-City connection pier;
- 325,000 euros – for the Santa Cruz-Verde project.
In addition, the meeting unanimously supported joining the agreement with the Government of the Canary Islands to create a Cyber Incident Response Service. This will help protect urban information systems from cyber threats and ensure the security of data and public services.
The Regidor noted that thanks to this agreement, the city will receive the best tools and expert support to protect the information of citizens and digital services, and this will not require additional costs from the city budget. Data Protection Advisor Purificación Dávila added that this agreement will allow the city to be at the forefront of digital protection.