The administrative odyssey of the Plaza Shopping Center to reopen after two years of closure once again puts one of the greatest weaknesses of San Bartolomé de Tirajana in the spotlight: its shopping centers
The various plans to develop the long-awaited tourist transformation of San Bartolomé de Tirajana are at a standstill until an issue that has been haunting the municipality for years is resolved: knowing what to do with its shopping centers. The deterioration of shopping centers is evident, even being closed and basing their little activity on “the boom” that some nightlife venues cause after their opening.
This is the case of the Águila Roja Shopping Center, which during the summers of 2020 and 2021 was able to offer, through a new location, an alternative to traditional nightlife, adapting its facilities to the sanitary measures of the time, with separation between tables, a expands terrace and sticks to the schedules stipulated in the various phases of de-escalation.
Something similar happened in Gran Chaparral, where a place with similar characteristics: with food service, cocktails and drinks, music and live shows, shishas and a terrace... triumphed during the pandemic, welcoming all those young people eager to have a place to relax. meeting and also adults curious about this new leisure model. The success was resounding, a business model far removed from the tourist pubs in the area but which also welcomed tourists.
But, just as happened in Águila Roja, with the progressive elimination of the restrictive measures inherent to the pandemic, the boom in those stores passed and returned the old shopping centers to the usual ostracism. Currently, this boom is being experienced in Meloneras, with the Sunset Beach Meloneras Shopping Center housing the fashionable nightclubs and with a large influx of young people coming and spending in these establishments every weekend.
Today, Sunset Beach is what the Plaza Shopping Center was at the time; a reference in the nightlife of Gran Canaria. However, the Plaza's fall from grace was even more resounding than that of the Águila Roja or the Gran Chaparral. In addition to the restrictions imposed on nightlife that caused the closure of its nightclubs, the problem of vandalism and fights was added, highlighting one end of 2021 that ended with a young man being rushed to the Insular Hospital after receiving a stab wound to the neck. The poor image and problems in the electrical installation of the shopping center led to it being sealed by the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council in February 2022.
The situation is even worse in the Nilo Shopping Center, where the abandonment is such that the premises have been occupied and converted into homes, without any type of occupancy certificate or control in the structures of the facilities that have been neglected for years.
The critical situation of shopping centers has led to the proposal of a legal report that forces the owners to carry out appropriate reforms. The new political formations propose taking advantage of the battered structures and reforming the shopping centers with multiple green areas to reinforce their campaign.
Despite the diverse opinions and proposals from both sides of the political spectrum, everyone agrees on one point: Maspalomas has a "serious problem" with its shopping centers.
