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FRIDAY 18th SEPTEMBER TO THURSDAY 1st OCTOBER 2015
EDITION 534 PAGES 29- 36
Third FULL MOON FESTIVAL
PAGESA22FOOD - 23 EMPORIUM Your fortnightly TV GUIDE inside IN LOS CRISTIANOS
PUERTO PLEDGES TO New look for Los Gigantes UPGRADE HOTELS beach A “AS A PRIORITY”
long-awaited project to replenish a beach in Los Gigantes is one step closer to fruition.
Santiago del Teide council says it has now received permission to take 3,500 cubic metres of sand from the bottom of the marina of Los Gigantes. This will then be taken to the beach of Los Guíos to replace the sand which has been lost over the years and repair the barren areas. The council says sand
extraction formed part of their election pledge and is considered essential work. The work has now been deemed compatible with marine strategy and will have no effect on the Teno-Rasca reserve. The Mayor, Emilio Navarro said the beach would be replenished in time for next summer.
Arona warns on car sales in street
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RONA council is to get tough on the illegal sale of cars parked in the streets.
Imminent start on refurbishments?
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HE Mayor of Puerto de la Cruz, Lope Afonso has pledged that modernisation of hotels is an absolute priority.
He gave his assurance during a first meeting with Ashotel representatives. He said they wanted to move ahead with modernisation and tourism plans as soon as possible and said many hoteliers were about to begin, having already acheived the necessary permissions. Sr. Afonso said the council wanted to streamline procedures and cut back on bureaucracy and was hoping to delegate powers to the Consortium for the Rehabiliation of Puerto de la Cruz as part of this.
The meeting agreed that the right way forward was to hold regular updates such as this one which took place at the Taoro building and to work together. Councillor for tourism, Dimple Melwani said the aim was to create a very attractive location for tourists and everyone involved had to make the maximum effort. It is hoped shortly to announce a new manager for the Consortium, a post which has been vacant since February of 2014. This would enable a further push for
projects and could see the start of rehabilitation in a dozen hotels. Vice-president of Ashotel, Enrique Talg revealed there were actually 18 hotels waiting for permission to start reforms which he described as “essential” because they would reinforce Puerto’s place on the tourism map and bring an economic boost to the local economy and new jobs. He welcomed the council’s decision to delegate powers to the Consortium as this would speed up the process and cut out unnecessary red tape. The meeting also talked about delays in projects for the reform of various public spaces
in the municipality. It was felt this created “tremendous damage” to hoteliers in these areas and was harmful to the enjoyment of tourists. Lope Afonso said they hoped to address this issue as soon as possible.
The problem affects all parts of the municipality but is said to be much worse in Los Cristianos and also in Guaza. The council has warned it will remove such cars and impound them for one month, after which they will be scrapped The owners will also be fined, even though in many cases they do not appear to realise that their vehicle is being advertised for sale in the street. Arona council says this practice is not only illegal, it
takes up valuable parking spaces, such as in avenida Juan Carlos I in Los Cristianos. In July, the owners of 34 vehicles were reported for the offence but it is still happening. Police say in some cases, intermediaries are being used to sell the car ie. a go-between and the original owner isn’t aware what it is happening. Nevertheless, it is still their responsibility. Many of the cars don’t have insurance or a current ITV so can be considered “junk” and treated as such.