Viera y Clavijo Park Renovation Faces New Delays, €17M Cost Hike

The renovation of the Viera y Clavijo cultural park in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is facing another delay and a higher cost. Javier Rivero, the city's Councillor for Infrastructure, confirmed this. The first part of the project, which includes the main building and the area around it, won't be finished until early 2027. This is about a year and a half later than the original plan of June 2025.

This is the second delay for the project. It's mainly because the central building needs to be adapted to become the new CaixaForum headquarters. An extra four million euros will be spent on this, which is already in the 2026 budget. Councillor Rivero added that this updated plan also addresses problems that came up during construction, like rising material costs and the need for better carpentry. Windows on the ground floor will also be changed into doors. This modification, approved by the Tenerife Island Council's Historical Heritage department, will create a separate entrance and an outdoor terrace for the cafeteria.

New plans also include building an accessible link between the main building and the future Pérez Minik auditorium, which will be underground. This will involve installing lifts and escalators to make it easier to get from the Patio de los Cipreses to the square above. As a result, the demolition of the current Pérez Minik theatre, part of the second phase, won't start until 2027. The third and final phase, which focuses on improving the park area between the Pérez Minik and the Hotel Escuela, doesn't have a start date yet.

This new four-million-euro expense comes after an earlier 2.1-million-euro increase last year. That first change was due to finding an underground cistern, which caused a one-year delay itself. So, the total cost for Viera y Clavijo has jumped from the 11 million euros planned in 2023 (when work finally started after more than fifteen years) to over 17 million euros.

While the entire complex isn't expected to be finished until 2028, the councillor mentioned that the park might open to the public once the first phase is done. Architect Fernando Menis is leading the project, which aims to turn this area into a new cultural and social centre for the city. The main building here is officially recognized as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). Plans include wider pavements, creating an open space for people by taking down the wall between the gardens and the Rambla, and planting about 2,000 different plants, such as cypresses, palm trees, and flowers.