Alejandro Marichal: "Our goal is to ensure that no resident has to leave the municipality due to a lack of affordable housing."
Lucía Jiménez: "This agreement is the fruit of months of collaborative effort. We have worked intensively to identify viable projects and design an ambitious yet realistic action plan."
The Housing Department of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council has launched the development and construction of new units, the result of a collaboration agreement with the public company Viviendas Sociales e Infraestructuras de Canarias, SAU (VISOCAN), a subsidiary of the Canary Islands Government. This agreement also includes the acquisition of 20 already-built homes in the Castillo del Romeral neighborhood, which will be used for social housing.
The agreement, approved by the municipal plenary session in December 2023, entails a record investment of 35 million euros, fully financed by the Department of Housing, headed by Councilor Lucía Jiménez (CC). The funds will be used for the acquisition of homes, project drafting, bidding, and execution of construction works.
The planned projects focus on several strategic plots in the municipality, such as Lomo de Maspalomas; El Pajar; and Castillo del Romeral. In addition, twenty homes located on Juan de la Cosa Street, in the coastal town of Castillo del Romeral, will be acquired and immediately incorporated into the municipal social housing stock.
The work schedule establishes that service contracts for the drafting of all building projects and the respective project management must be awarded by November 2025. Work is scheduled to begin in the last quarter of 2026. Furthermore, the 20 social rental homes in Castillo del Romeral will be available much sooner, becoming part of the municipal housing stock as soon as their acquisition is formalized, expected in the last quarter of 2025.
According to the First Deputy Mayor, Alejandro Marichal, "with this agreement, San Bartolomé de Tirajana will take a historic leap forward in the construction of public housing. With a record investment of 35 million euros, this is the first significant housing project in two decades." He added that "the addition of new homes and, above all, the imminent addition of 20 social rental units, represents real relief for dozens of families in the municipality." Finally, he emphasized: "Our goal is to ensure that no resident has to leave the municipality due to a lack of affordable housing."
Councilor for Housing, Lucía Jiménez, highlighted the coordinated work of the various administrations that has led to this agreement. “This agreement is the fruit of months of joint effort. We have worked intensively to identify viable plots and design an ambitious yet realistic action plan. The future homes will meet the highest standards of sustainability and energy efficiency, and will be designed to meet the real needs of our residents,” she emphasized.
Visocan's manager, Javier Terán, explains that collaboration between institutions is key to finding solutions to the islands' housing problems and is confident that this type of agreement will make the most of the financial resources, knowledge, and experience of Visocan's staff and municipal technicians. "This is an example of effective inter-administrative collaboration. At Visocan, we would like to thank the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council for promoting this agreement, which represents a decisive commitment to increasing the supply of subsidized housing in this municipality. This cooperation model is the way to address the housing need in the Canary Islands," he concludes.
The Joint Monitoring Committee for the agreement will be responsible for overseeing the entire process, from project drafting to construction execution. It will also adjust the number and type of housing to the needs identified in the Housing Applicant Registry and in coordination with municipal social services.
With this initiative, San Bartolomé de Tirajana will not only expand its public housing stock, but will also make progress toward achieving one of the major social objectives of this mandate: ensuring access to decent housing for all families in the municipality.
