Tacoronte Confirms Desalination Opposition, Prioritizes Groundwater

On Monday, a meeting was held at the Tacoronte City Council. It brought together everyone involved in the town's water supply. The main goal was to confirm that the community opposes building a desalination plant on the Mesa del Mar coast. They also wanted to explore other ways to ensure the town has enough water for years to come.

Mayor Sandra Izquierdo led the meeting. Many council members attended, including all spokespeople from the various political groups and subgroups within the council, as well as Suso Machado, the Councillor for Water and Sanitation.

Also there were Carlos Soler, an engineer specializing in water systems and energy; Braulio Domínguez, manager of the joint company Teidagua; and several people representing the local group formed to stop the desalination plant from being built on the Tacoronte coast.

The meeting started with a short talk from Soler. He explained the problems with desalination, noting its "heavy reliance on oil, very high costs, and questionable water quality." He reminded everyone that water can be sourced in two main ways: industrially, by reusing treated wastewater or desalinating seawater; or naturally, by collecting rainwater runoff or drilling into the ground to find underground water. The well-known engineer stressed that building a desalination plant should be the last resort for getting water in Tenerife. He argued that tapping into groundwater is a much better option. The Canary Islands already have a vast water system, with 2,000 underground tunnels (galleries) and over 4,000 wells, some as deep as 600 meters. This shows how advanced the region is in drawing water from underground. "We have plenty of water," he said. "The Insular Water Council reports that 45 out of every 100 liters of rain soak into the ground and collect there." He pointed out that Tacoronte, with about 25,000 residents, needs roughly 3 cubic hectometers of water each year for people and farming, based on an average use of 250 liters per person daily. This is far less than the 8 cubic hectometers of groundwater naturally available in the area each year from rainfall. He added that these "reserves, if not used, would simply flow into the sea."

Soler argued that "the city has enough water to be self-sufficient without needing desalination plants." For the short term, he suggested a research project to drill 4 to 6 small-diameter boreholes. These would be used for pumping tests to extract water, check its quality and how much is available, and see how long the supply would last. Eventually, these boreholes would connect to the town's reservoirs, feeding the water into the municipal supply. Tacoronte currently has 24 underground tunnels (galleries), but only 4 are still active; the rest are dry and no longer work.

The manager of Teidagua agreed with Soler's plan. He reminded everyone that Teidagua, the joint company for La Laguna and Tacoronte, aims "to ensure water supply in both areas." He noted that they could use the water emergency declared by the Cabildo de Tenerife and the funds received to pay for the infrastructure originally planned for the Tacoronte coast. The Mayor announced that at a recent Teidagua Board meeting, it was decided to move the desalination plant's location to another spot on the island's northeast side. They also agreed to gradually remove equipment and other resources from the Mesa del Mar project by the first half of January 2026.

For over two hours, in a spirit of understanding and reflection on past issues and future steps, everyone at the meeting welcomed this open discussion and collaborative approach to the town's water situation. Local residents, including Melchor Herrera, a professional fisherman from El Pris, stressed the importance of protecting the environment around the Tacoronte coast. They also highlighted the need for more public involvement to prevent problems like those seen recently.

One key agreement was to start a strategy, backed by technical experts, to get the permits needed for the "research boreholes." The mayor added, "This is an alternative we support, and we will start working on it now to gather information and certainty. We will secure the necessary funds and get help from all experts, authorities, and organizations to move in the right direction."