Tenerife Council Plans Tender for Decade-Delayed Care Home by 2027

The Tenerife Island Council has announced a new plan to finish the Guía de Isora care home. This project, which has been delayed for over ten years, is vital for providing more places for elderly people in the south of the island. The Council aims to put the remaining construction work out to tender (bid for) before its current term ends in 2027.

The Institute of Social and Socio-health Care (IASS) is currently reviewing and updating the original plans. This is necessary because the existing structure, which has been unfinished for years, no longer meets modern care standards. Key changes include upgrading the kitchen, which was too small for the planned number of residents, and updating the air conditioning. Other parts of the building's design are also being reviewed.

The Island Council has hired the public company Gestur to draw up these new plans. At the same time, because so much time has passed since some of the work was done, technical tests are being carried out to check the building's current condition. Future work will involve redesigning several indoor areas and completely replacing the wiring, which was badly damaged by vandals in 2021.

The IASS expects these technical tests to be finished by the end of March, and the final project plans to be ready by July. This timeline aims to ensure the Island Council has all the necessary documents to put the construction work out to tender before its term ends in 2027.

The Guía de Isora care home project has a long history of delays. It began in 2010 when the local City Council started the initiative. They knocked down old schools and put in 1.2 million euros for the first stage of construction. The plan was for a facility with 75 residential beds and 20 day care places. Since there was no island-wide funding then, the City Council pushed the project forward, completing almost half of the building.

Construction went well until it stopped in 2011 because of the financial crisis. In 2014, the Canary Islands Government provided 400,000 euros to restart it, but work halted again in March 2015. Three years later, the Island Council took over, planning to finish it in ten months. However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused another stop in 2020. Then, in 2021, vandals severely damaged much of the building's electrical system, costing an estimated three million euros to fix. This damage meant the entire project needed to be reviewed again.

The President of the Tenerife Island Council, Rosa Dávila, had previously said, during a visit with local mayor Ana Dorta, that the work would be finished by mid-2025. But because the project needed to be revised, the deadlines have been pushed back. In 2023, the Island Council received 3.7 million euros from European Next Generation funds. These funds are for replacing vandalized parts and furnishing the center. The process of getting and managing these funds also caused another delay in putting the project out to tender.

The Guía de Isora care home is one of several projects aimed at addressing the lack of care places in the south of the island. This area has a rapidly growing population and high demand for healthcare. Another proposed facility for this term is a senior citizens' center next to the Hospital del Sur. However, there are no construction plans for this yet. The Island Council has asked Gestur to conduct a technical study to assess the land, its building potential, and nearby facilities.

Therefore, during the current term of the Coalición Canaria and Partido Popular parties leading the island government, it is expected that only the 76 places from the Abades senior citizens' center in Arico, which is almost finished, will be added to the region's care bed capacity.