The City Council agreed to urge the Canary Islands Government and the Island Council to take on "firmly and definitively" its construction, which is expected to require approximately 34,9 million euros.
The San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council unanimously approved this Thursday the request to urge the Gran Canaria Island Council and the Canary Islands Government to "firmly and definitively include" the municipality in the Third Social and Health Infrastructure Plan with the aim of building a senior residence with a new Day Care Center in the Maspalomas area.
The intention of the government headed by Mayor Marco Aurelio Pérez Sánchez is to build this social and healthcare infrastructure for low- and middle-income seniors on the municipal plot located across from the Parque Urbano del Sur, specifically between Avenida Alejandro del Castillo and the rear of the Maspalomas Health Center.
The estimated funding required to tender and contract the construction of the residence and Day Center, including overhead costs, industrial profit, and IGIC, amounts to €34.965.454,65. Four projects are proposed. The construction of the building will require a budget of €21.467,250; the construction of an underground garage, €1.955.200; the general planning works for the spaces in the social-health complex, pedestrian and vehicle access, and above-ground parking, another €3.413.300; and the landscaping and development of the plot, approximately €624.750.
The municipal government's objective, as explained by the Councilor for Social Services and the Elderly, Dimas Sarmiento Navarro, is to expedite the project's implementation as much as possible. Therefore, the plenary agreement adopted this Thursday also includes requesting a grant from the Council of €699.309,08 for the drafting of the technical project, with a view to "advancing its planning and being in optimal conditions to begin its execution" once the funding is obtained.
The creation of a senior residence is a long-standing political and neighborhood demand that has long been considered a "need" in San Bartolomé de Tirajana. In fact, at the municipal plenary session of November 30, 1988, a plot of land in San Fernando was first offered for the facility.
The municipal government's vision is for the residential building and new Day Care Center for seniors to become a benchmark for the municipality's modernization, with an architectural proposal that focuses primarily on quality, accessibility, functionality, and flexibility of use. It also provides for future growth in height up to four floors and horizontal expansion toward neighboring plots. Among other requirements, it must be an economically and energy-efficient, as well as environmentally sustainable, infrastructure.
Pharmaceutical Kit for Juan Grande
This regular plenary session also unanimously approved a request to the General Pharmacy Directorate of the Canary Islands Health Service to promote the installation of an emergency pharmacy in the Juan Grande area to prevent medication shortages among the elderly population without access to transportation.
Mayor Marco Aurelio Pérez stated that the City Council has launched this request as a response to the demands of residents who were left without a pharmacy in Juan Grande due to its relocation to Aldea Blanca in 2016. He also stated that, given the difficulty of having a pharmacy in Castillo del Romeral, less than 3 kilometers away, the efforts undertaken with the Directorates General of Health and Pharmacy of the Canary Islands Government have led to a legal avenue to justify and consider opening the pharmacy in Juan Grande "given the shortage of services and the increase in the elderly population in need."
The Half Bushel
On the other hand, in this same session, the City Council plenary session also unanimously approved submitting to the Municipal Environmental Body the request to initiate the simplified strategic environmental assessment procedure for the minor modification of the municipality's General Urban Development Plan for the categorization and detailed development of La Media Fanega Alto as a rural settlement. This request was promoted in November 2024 by the Association of People Affected by El Salobre, Lomo Los Azules, and surrounding areas. Currently, the area of La Media Fanega is classified in the General Plan as potentially productive rural land, agricultural land, and as rural land for natural protection. The First Deputy Mayor, Alejandro Marichal, explained that this is an area with three alternatives: a larger one, covering 82.289 m² of land with an impact on 43 homes, and a smaller one, covering 57.389 m², which would allow 42 homes to be legalized.
Montaña Clara Urbanization
Two other matters unanimously approved by the plenary session were an extraordinary credit modification that will allow €2025 to be allocated during 120.000 to the renovation of the residential area of the 32 homes in the Montaña Clara development, and the multi-year expenditure plan required for this renovation in 2026, estimated at another €366.229. Both investments add up to the amount that the City Council must contribute to this renovation project, budgeted at €1.720.603, of which €787.520 comes from European funds and approximately €450.000 from the Council, as explained by the First Deputy Mayor.
Montaña Clara is one of the oldest residential developments in the municipality, having been built in 1972, and has accessibility issues. The commitment to subsidies for this project requires that the tender notice for the renovation works be published before June 30th and that they be completed by June 30th, 2026.
