need to keep on bringing basic services closer to all the neighbourhoods and villages because it generates employment and wealth”

We have managed to find a spare moment in the busy schedule of Tuineje’s mayor, Esther Hernández. We met her a few years ago, but the end of term is approaching and we wanted her to give us a summary of her mandate so far.

Are you satisfied with what you have achieved?

Yes, I feel really good, although there are some projects that we couldn’t start for reasons beyond our control, such as the elders’ care home, which depends on the Cabildo and is paralysed right now, but we keep on fighting.

But you have achieved many things, can you tell us about them?

We have been in place for three and a half years, and I believe that this government group is the one I am most satisfied with. We have reached historical achievements such as the largest budget in the history of Tuineje, and we materialised many initiatives and brought public services closer to the Municipality’s villages. For example, this month, we will complete the project of Plaza de la Candelaria, which was delayed because of problems encountered, but if this had been started 10 years ago, we wouldn’t be talking about it today. The Sports facilities will soon be completed too, such as the courts of Tuineje, Giniginamar and Tarajalejo, the court in Tesejerague is underway, and the athletics tracks in Gran Tarajal are already in use.

We also solved the problems of Gran Tarajal’s cemetery, which will be completed within the next two months. In March, we will start working on Avenida de Las Playitas, which is very deteriorated and various areas will be asphalted in all the Municipality’s villages, as agreed last month.

Will you run for mayor again in the next elections?

Yes, I will, and I hope that the Municipality’s population will trust us again because considering the amount of bureaucracy involved in each project, it would be a way to achieve some of them and complete those that are already underway.

Furthermore, if we can be here again for the next mandate, we will concentrate on having adequate planning for Tuineje, as we feel it is essential for the growth of this municipality, which has always been left aside slightly, and of course, we need to keep on working all over the territory. We need to keep on bringing basic services closer to the neighbourhoods and villages because it generates employment and wealth.

As there isn’t much tourism in this Municipality, we have concentrated our efforts on promoting the events to emphasise them, attract the public and promote the Municipality of Tuineje, like for example, the Arena Negra festival, which we are presenting in FITUR, with other important sports, cultural and commercial events in the Municipality.

Is Tuineje represented during the Tourism Show?

Yes, it is, we are attending with the Tourism and Commerce councillors and we have a busy schedule of meetings and events’ presentations which Nélida Padilla has prepared. We are also presenting the AGROCANARIAS Fair, which the Canarian Government is organising in our Municipality.

What else would you like to add?

We also managed to secure subsidies for the primary and commercial sectors, which will be distributed in the next few days.

We believe that we have brought back some prestige to the Municipality of Tuineje, which it deserves and we would have done more if the pandemic hadn’t hit us halfway through.