The president of the Cabildo, Antonio Morales, declares that the investment of more than six million euros seeks to “enhance the exclusive values of the Oasis, beautifying the natural environment in a balanced and sustainable way.”
Marco Aurelio Pérez announces that the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council is working on the medium-term incorporation of new plots into the current surroundings of the Palmeral Oasis
The Cabildo also finances the remodeling of the Playa del Inglés slide, the access to the beaches of Maspalomas, and the renovation of the Maspalomas Municipal Market. Likewise, it is preparing the tender for the remodeling of the Lighthouse surroundings, the total rehabilitation of the Maspalomas Stadium and the Great Urban Park in Sonneland, which totals more than 18 million
The president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, together with the mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez, top officials of the Maspalomas Gran Canaria Consortium, reported today on the start of the works on the landscape conditioning of the Palmeral Oasis of Maspalomas, in which will invest 6.061.443 euros and which, as stated by the island president, aim to “improve the landscape quality of this area, enhancing the unique and exclusive values of the Oasis, and beautifying the natural environment in a balanced and sustainable way, to create a space that both residents and tourists can enjoy and that will become one of the most outstanding enclaves on the island of Gran Canaria and the Canary Islands.”
Thus, with this new initiative, the Consortium continues the different actions that it has been undertaking in Maspalomas, a place where the Dune System, the Oasis and the Pond coexist, three ecosystems that are part of the Special Natural Reserve of the Dunes of Maspalomas, and continues to fulfill its mission of rehabilitation, conservation and promotion of this area as a determining point of the tourist activity of the Island.
“In recent years, we are promoting actions that are improving the quality of the destination, environmental sustainability, natural spaces and public facilities,” President Morales specified. “We are talking about the Tony Gallardo Park, the Paseo de Meloneras, the San Fernando public pool or the boulevard on the GC-500, among other interventions.”
And today, within this line of action, was the day designated to present this new relevant action, which will be carried out by the company Tragsa, “and with which the Oasis will be improved, which has a special significance, both for its extraordinary environmental value and patrimonial as well as the breadth of the works,” he stated. “A place of high natural protection, of high sensitivity regarding biodiversity, which identifies the island of Gran Canaria and with an indisputable projection in our tourist image, which explains the relevance that the two institutions that made this presentation give it to this rehabilitation.”
Regarding the project, he indicated that, at first, it was focused on the palm grove and the park, but that the approved proposal has finally been expanded with several actions in the environment. “The action we present has been tendered and started. It is already a reality,” he stressed. “And, during the drafting of the project, we have been more ambitious and have expanded the interventions, so that the central element is the rehabilitation of the palm grove and the oasis and, in addition, environmental and planning actions for the entire perimeter area have been included. ”.
The leader of the island Government also recalled that, in January 2020, the Tony Gallardo Park was reopened, a place that is part of the Dunas Natural Reserve, whose restoration was fully financed by the Cabildo and which has become in one of the places with the greatest environmental value in all of Europe. “Next to this Park, there is the Oasis, which is an Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Historical Site, and we pursue the beautification of the area in a way that is kind to nature, a unique setting in the world,” he concluded.
For his part, Marco Aurelio Pérez highlighted that the work will be carried out on an area of 90.000 square meters, to which we must add the Tony Gallardo Park, “of pure nature. We are on Gallardo's land and what we are seeing around us is a landscape adaptation so that we can use it. An environment to which we are going to give packaging, so that our population and the people who visit us enjoy environmental content, where they will feel how their feelings are intertwined with nature."
The mayor explained that the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council is working on the recovery of private urban plots, to incorporate them into the Maspalomas Oasis in the medium term. “We are executing a sentence to recover the so-called 'Painter's House', which is in the middle of the Palmeral del Oasis. We have already deposited 3,5 million in the execution of a first phase of that sentence and now we are concentrating on discussing the interests, which are going to go above one million euros,” he pointed out. "In some way we want to contribute it to this great project of Maspalomas and we have an idea that is put on the table to be the interpretation center of Las Dunas and, with that element, to grow in terms of adaptation and use, which is ultimately what the administration of the Dunes of Maspalomas, La Charca and the Oasis is looking for.”
Finally, he explained that, in the financing chapter, of the six million global euros of investment, four are contributed by the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council and the remaining two by the Gran Canaria Council, and he placed special emphasis on assess the coordination of the two administrations to carry out this project, "whose fruit is to highlight a sensitive and emblematic surface of the island of Gran Canaria and, of course, the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana."
The Minister of Tourism of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Carlos Álamo, in turn, agreed in praising the relevance of this project and reviewed the investment made by the Tourism Planning Consortium in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, to which “Turismo de Gran Canaria “It has contributed 17 million euros since 2020, when the Consortium was definitively committed to this tool for renewal and transformation of the tourist city.”
The project, in three phases
The work to condition the landscape of the Palmeral Oasis of Maspalomas that is now beginning will follow a work plan that has been distributed in three phases, following the route that can later be carried out in this area.
In order, the work of Phase A covers the main access and the area for reception and control, the office and public toilets. Next, in Phase B, the Flores Lagoon, the Interactive Fountain and the Mirador de Las Dunas Observatory will continue, which reach a total area of 1.588 square meters and will be part of the 'Biohealthy Tour', a space that accompanies the landscape. surrounding La Charca, the Palmeral and the Dunes of Maspalomas.
In more depth, this 'Biohealthy Course' has been designed with five health zones inspired by the principles of Sebastian Kneipp: balance, nature, water, activity and nutrition, and the philosophy "Living in harmony with nature, sustainability and mindfulness.”
Thus, the first of them includes the Oasis and the Lagoon, has 528 square meters of extension, which includes the lagoon and the interactive fountain, and has been configured as a place focused on the development of outdoor physical activity, in which, in turn, an informative area related to the Oasis and the Pond will be created.
The second area is focused on toning and strength, it has 160 square meters where five interactive wooden devices will be installed integrated into the environment and is aimed at the development of physical activities of the upper and lower trunk.
In the next step of this tour, the area dedicated to concentration and orientation appears, with 400 square meters enabled and will include a totem related to the five pillars of health, a labyrinth, a human sundial and various activity platforms. outdoors and rest, all equipped with interactive equipment and devices created in natural wood and configured in a way that favors its integration into the environment.
This is followed by a fourth area focused on the connection with the senses, which will have 340 square meters with devices or elements and will favor the creation of informative spaces related to the flora and fauna of the environment.
And the last large space will be made up of an observation and dissemination point of the Reserve, where shading elements inspired by the palm grove and the vegetation of the place will be placed, to protect the visitor from the sun, and will have a small solar park located on the covers of the modules located at the entrances, as well as four types of lighting. A viewpoint that, in the opinion of Antonio Morales, has a privileged location to observe the vegetation and fauna of the place. “This project will become an architectural landmark as a tourist attraction,” he predicted.
Finally, Phase C of the project focuses on the Children's and recreational area, with 328 square meters of extension and with various complementary equipment and children's games, for the enjoyment of the little ones, and created with materials consistent with the environment.
In addition to these tasks, the president announced that the Consortium contemplates various interventions within the perimeter of this area of action, which include the transfer and conditioning of the tourist bus stop, the improvement of the pedestrian route of the current Avenida de Oceanía, including the bike lane, along with the restoration of the vegetation and the 'Rambla Tony Gallardo', on Tour Operador Tui avenue, which is based on the conditioning of that road and the section that connects the Environmental Park with the Tony Gallardo Park, as well as that of Oasis and Neckerman avenues.
performances in progress
Morales closed his speech by reviewing three other projects that the Consortium is currently working on.
On the one hand, it specified that next August the landscape conditioning of the hillside around Tobogán Playa del Inglés will begin, for an amount of 568.514 euros and which will be carried out by the company Herodíaz, and that, starting next September, Abaldo SA will condition access to the beaches of Maspalomas, with a project budgeted at 983.758 euros.
Likewise, he referred to the Maspalomas Municipal Market project, whose works are distributed in two lots and are co-financed by the Cabildo, with 4.541.710 euros, and by the southern City Council, with another 3.431.955 euros. In this regard, he commented that, after the termination of the contract for lot 2, due to non-compliance with materials, a price review has been carried out and an increase of 1.540.109 in the total amount is estimated.
In this case, he said that the Consortium will deliver this week the economic viability analysis document, so that the management and start-up procedure begins, once the work is finished, of which Lot 1 will be executed by Tragsa, and Insae Instalaciones will undertake Lot 2.
And along with all this, he reported that tenders are already being prepared for both the remodeling of the Faro area, with more than three million euros coming from the Open Commercial Zones Plan, and for the total rehabilitation of the Maspalomas Stadium and the Gran Urban Park in Sonneland, with another four million from the Additional Island Investment Plan for the Municipalities, which represents more than 18 million euros together, to be added to the planned investment in the palm grove.
