Tenerife Council Cancels 'Underwater Gardens' Project Over Greenwashing Concerns

The Tenerife Island Council has officially cancelled the Underwater Gardens project in Punta Blanca, marking a significant shift in the island’s land-use policy. Island president Rosa Dávila and vice president Lope Afonso confirmed that the government has rejected the proposal, which had aimed to create Europe’s first "amphibious regenerative park" on the island’s southern coast.

The decision stems from a fundamental disagreement over economic development. President Dávila explained that the project, led by CEO Marc García-Durán Huet, had shifted away from its original goal of environmental restoration. The council argued that the final design functioned more like a themed leisure attraction than a genuine effort to recover the local ecosystem, noting that sustainability must be a technical reality rather than just a marketing tool.

This decision follows months of criticism from the scientific community. In May, a group of over twenty experts from the University of La Laguna, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) released a report questioning the project's technical validity. The researchers warned that the plan risked using environmental protection as a cover for commercial exploitation, which they labeled as "greenwashed extractivism."

While Jordi Van Oostenryck, the project’s communications director, had previously insisted that the goal was to restore the marine environment and make Tenerife an international leader in conservation, the council’s refusal has ended the initiative. By blocking the project, the government has prioritized environmental protection over business models that failed to meet the rigorous standards of both academic experts and local authorities.