Strasse Park Kiosk Decays in Santa Cruz Amid Tender Delays

The old Strasse Park kiosk-bar, once a popular spot in Santa Cruz de Tenerife's famous García Sanabria park, is now falling apart. Bureaucracy and legal problems have left it neglected, a stark contrast to its busy past. Nearly a year and a half after closing, the 365-square-meter building is showing its age. Plants are growing over parts of it, and there's a build-up of weeds, rubbish, and broken furniture, according to local news reports.

The Santa Cruz City Council, which manages the space, plans to clean up the area and fix the outside fence next week. Javier Rivero, the Councilor for Heritage, explained that this work was delayed until after the carnivals. He added that the goal is simply to make the place look better, not to fix damage from vandals.

This neglect started with a complicated series of events in November 2024. The City Council ordered the previous operator of Strasse Park to leave after finding an illegal electrical connection. There was also a legal fight between the operating company and the former managers over an €83,000 bill for utilities. Although the Public Prosecutor's Office initially blamed the City Council, the courts cleared them and declared the last operating company bankrupt. This all happened as the city's contract for the kiosk was ending, leading to its permanent closure on December 12, 2024. It has been empty ever since.

Efforts to reopen the space with a new tender, launched in late November 2024, have failed. Three companies applied, but none met the necessary criteria, so no contract could be awarded. One of the bidders appealed this decision, stopping the whole process. Now, everyone is waiting for a final meeting of the contracting committee to declare the tender invalid. This would allow the city to start the bidding process again. Councilor Rivero hopes this will happen before summer.

The requirements for the failed tender, which are likely to stay the same for the next one, included a full renovation of the kiosk. This means fixing the electrical system and applying for a new power connection. The new operator will also have to deal with the furniture left behind by the last tenants. The quarterly fee to run the kiosk-bar is €8,355, making the annual payment to the City Council €33,423. This fee is based on its location and total size of 365.76 square meters. Of this, 206.56 m² is for the inside (bar, kitchen, toilets) and 159.20 m² for the two outdoor terraces.