Tenerife Residents Propose Sonic Statue, Giant Coffee, and More in €2.4M Budget Ideas
Residents of Tenerife are proposing diverse and creative projects, from replacing a Franco monument with Sonic the Hedgehog to building a "barraquito" monument, as part of the city's €2.4 million participatory budgeting initiative for 2026 and 2027.
People in town are sharing all sorts of ideas – some practical, some a bit wild – for the city's new "Participatory Budgets" for 2026 and 2027. This is a way for residents to directly tell the City Council what projects they want to see happen to improve the area.
The city has set aside €2.4 million for these projects, dividing the city into six zones: Anaga, Ofra, Salud-La Salle, Ifara, Southwest, and a general "Citizen Line" for leisure and culture ideas. Each of the five districts gets €400,000 to spend on the most popular ideas.
The call for proposals started on September 21st, and so far, over 80 ideas have been submitted. More are expected before voting day on June 29th. One interesting trend is that many people are suggesting changes to the Monument to Franco on Anaga Avenue. Some ideas include replacing it with a dove, the video game character Sonic, or even a statue of the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez! Someone even suggested Batman, but they withdrew the idea after it caused some controversy.
The Centro-Ifara district has been the most active, with about 40 suggestions. Salud-La Salle has 12, Ofra has 9, the Southwest has 8, and Anaga has 10. The "Citizen Line" has only received six proposals so far.
In Centro-Ifara, ideas include using old tiles from the Nivaria bookstore (which the owner donated) in the new Diputación del Común building on Castillo Street. Other suggestions are adding musical instruments to parks for kids, creating floating pool areas in the Cabildo marina, and widening the sidewalks on the Rambla. People also want a fountain in Duggi Square and a mural on Doctor Allart Street to honor the first printing press in the Canary Islands.
Other ideas for Centro-Ifara include adding awnings to the pedestrian area of Avenida de la Asunción, building a children's park on the Ramón y Cajal extension, and fixing the pedestrian bridge over the Santos ravine. One fun idea is to create a "barraquito" monument (a popular local coffee drink) in Luis Cola Benítez Square to become a city icon. Another is to turn the tower of the monument to the Fallen in Plaza de España into an information point with a giant hologram, or to create a tiny "chuchanga" (a type of snail) sculpture in the Santos ravine to try and break the Guinness World Record for the smallest urban sculpture.
For Salud-La Salle, people want to repave the sidewalk on Heliodoro Rodríguez López Street, add a public bathroom to Las Indias Park, and hang planters on the Javier de Loño bridge to make it prettier.
In Ofra-Costa Sur, ideas include adding lights to the parking lot on Avenida Príncipes de España and fixing up the empty lot there. People also want electric vehicle charging points in Llano Alegre and the El Mayorazgo industrial estate, and improvements to Santa Clara Square to make it accessible.
In the Southwest district, proposals include fixing up abandoned plots of land in El Draguillo, repaving Níspero Street, and adding electric charging points in Acorán or Tíncer Street. In Anaga, people want to make the Cruz de Santiago on the mountain in La Alegría bigger and add a sculpture of fishmongers in the San Andrés roundabout.
Finally, the "Citizen Line" proposals include bringing back the romero parade during the Fiestas de Mayo, honoring important city figures with plaques on park benches, placing noise radars in certain areas to improve health, and creating a "Mount Rushmore" style monument with the mayors of ATI.
To be approved, each project must cost less than €120,000, take no more than twelve months to complete, and not overlap with any existing city plans.