The Tenerife municipalities of Arico, Granadilla de Abona and San Miguel de Abona are in the midst of creating the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Tenerife
The Tenerife mayors value the experience of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria, which turns 32 this year
The mayors of Arico, Granadilla de Abona and San Miguel de Abona, Sebastián Martín, José Domingo Regalado and Arturo González, respectively, visited the facilities of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria this morning, to see first-hand the work you do.
The three Tenerife municipalities, which are in the midst of creating the Abona Commonwealth, in the Southeast of Tenerife, have shown interest in “the experience, the background of management in matters of water, desalinated water” and also public services , to implement it in the southeastern region of Tenerife, explained after the visit Sebastián Martín, mayor of Arico and president of the Technical Commission that is in charge of the constitution of the Tenerife community.
During the visit, the president of the Gran Canaria entity and mayor of Santa Lucía, Francisco García, recalled that the Commonwealth already has 32 years of experience in which services related to water desalination, the water cycle, the waste collection and public lighting.
In that sense, the mayor of Arico considered having come “to the right place and at the right time” and valued “the experience and great track record of the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria, which is a reflection of good management, especially in water and energy, but also in the shared management of municipal public services.”
The constitution of the Commonwealth of Abona has already been approved in the plenary sessions of the three municipalities and a technical commission is currently drafting the statutes that are expected to be approved next July, so it is likely that before the end of the year the Three municipalities will be constituted as a Commonwealth and will be able to provide service to 80.000 people in the south of Tenerife, as pointed out by the mayor of Granadilla de Abona, José Domingo Regalado.
The mayors recalled that the municipalities in the southeast of Tenerife are geographically similar to those of Gran Canaria, since they also have a lot of wind and a lot of sun, as well as a significant amount of agriculture.
For this reason, today's visit responds to the desire to "learn from the benefits but also from the obstacles they have encountered so as not to make the same mistakes," said the mayor of San Miguel de Abona, Arturo González, who assured that the exchange of ideas “have given encouragement to move forward.”
For her part, the mayor of Ingenio, Ana Hernández, highlighted the union of three joint Gran Canaria municipalities, “strong enough to continue year after year whoever is governing.” “The work done has borne fruit,” she added. In this regard, the mayor of Agüimes, Oscar Hernández, also assured that “the southeast of Gran Canaria has been radically transformed, thanks to the figure of the Commonwealth of the Southeast.”
During their visit, the representatives of the municipalities of the southeast of Tenerife learned about the photovoltaic installation, the desalination plant and the treatment plant managed by the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria, as well as the wind turbine that it has in the facilities themselves.
An example of solidarity
Since it was created in 1990, motivated by the need to solve the water shortage, the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria has changed the history of this region, whose municipalities were the least developed on the island.
Today, thanks to the joint work of the town councils that comprise it and the joint management of resources, the municipalities of the southeast of Gran Canaria have created opportunities and progress, with the management of water resources as one of the fundamental pillars of their sustainable development. .
It is currently working on an ambitious Sustainable Development Plan, which prioritizes the use and promotion of renewable energy, including its incorporation into passenger cars, water and energy savings, and good waste management, which has made the Commonwealth of the Southeast as an example and reference for other Canary Islands regions and the national and international scene.