Motorbikes, bicycles, and large buses are restricted from accessing Teide until December

Motorcycles, bicycles, and buses exceeding 12 metres in length will continue to be prohibited from accessing Las Cañadas del Teide until at least December unless they use the south roads for entry and exit. This announcement was made yesterday (Monday) by Dámaso Arteaga, the Councillor of Roads for the Tenerife Cabildo.

All other vehicles can use all roads as long as they do not exceed 50 kilometres per hour on the TF-523 road from Arafo to the junction with the TF-24, the TF-24 road from La Esperanza to El Portillo, and the TF-21 from La Orotava to El Portillo.

The wooden guardrails, damaged by fire, have been removed for safety reasons, and forest tracks also remain closed due to environmental agency work, with significant damage caused by the forest fire that affected 15,000 hectares across 12 municipalities.

"We are facing supply issues in obtaining safety barriers in the Canary Islands and have requested them from two mainland companies to begin installation in October and November. Therefore, they will not all be in place until December," stated Arteaga during an interview on Onda Tenerife radio. He also estimated that these wood and metal barriers would cover 17 kilometres, primarily on the TF-21 and TF-24 roads.

Arteaga further explained that the cost of replacement would exceed two million euros, as specified in the emergency work order. He emphasized the importance of metal and wooden guardrails on these roads, citing statistics from the Guardia Civil, which indicated that "in the last two years, they prevented vehicles from leaving the road in 24 out of 29 accidents."

Therefore, he stressed the vital importance of adhering to the recommended speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour in the absence of these barriers, given "the evident risk of leaving the road at these altitudes."