Politicians want the government to ‘wake up’ and start building the Fonsalia port in Tenerife

During yesterday’s (Tuesday) regional Parliament session, the Socialist Party of La Gomera (ASG), said that “there is no other solution to address the issues posed by the Los Cristianos port in the south of Tenerife than to build the Fonsalía port along the coast on the same island.”

The deputy of the ASG, Casimiro Curbelo, made this statement while questioning the Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, about the measures that will be taken to provide an alternative solution to the Los Cristianos port while safeguarding the connectivity of the western islands, i.e. La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro.

In response, Rodríguez explained that building a new port takes a long time and emphasised that the environmental impact study for the Fonsalía port has now expired. He added that all possibilities for the Los Cristianos port need to be explored to see if there are no other alternatives.

Curbelo responded by saying that, according to technical reports, it is not feasible to build a new dock at the Los Cristianos port, but that it is possible to do so at Fonsalía in Guía de Isora. Because of this he urged the government to “stop beating around the bush” and start construction of the Fonsalía port.

Government said NO to Fonsalia port in 2023

Last October, the Canarian government ruled out revisiting the Fonsalía port project and chose to look at alternatives to alleviate congestion in Los Cristianos, even though the port falls within this protected area, but was built before it became a heritage site.

The proposed port was to be built in a water area surrounded by the only whale sanctuary in the EU and the third in the world, which is rich in cetacean species and other animals in the Teno-Rasca strip, on the east coast of Tenerife.

The project consisted of a port-island platform with five berthing lines for large ships, a fishing dock, 200 dry dock spaces, and 467 marina spaces in the main area, covering ​​over 222,000 square metres. It involved an initial public investment of 200 million euros, with the processing of the project starting 25 years ago.

However, the entire maritime area from Teno (north) to Rasca (south) is considered a Special Conservation Area (SAC) by the European Union Habitats Directive because it hosts species in a "critical" state, such as the bottlenose dolphin and the loggerhead turtle.

In January 2021, the World Cetacean Alliance, based in the UK, recognised the area stretching between the southwest coast of Tenerife and La Gomera as a Whale Heritage Site due to a unique resident population of tropical pilot whales, numbering around 200 specimens.