The Arona Council approved the agreement that unblocks the partial plan of El Mojon in the south of Tenerife yesterday (Tuesday), covering an area of 908,306 square metres, a process that has taken almost 40 years to complete due to being a large land area located next to the tourist hubs of Los Cristianos and Las Americas.
This area includes hotel, residential, commercial, educational, sports, and recreational plots, and the Urban Planning Department's expectation is to partially take over the urbanisation and manage 333,000 square metres of public land, which is 36% of the total area.
By May 2023, when the urban agreement was signed, several projects for the area had already been finalised, including two large parks, the new Arona Arena for events, and agreements with companies such as Lidl and McDonald's.
The resolution was approved with the votes in favour of the governing team, made up of the PP, CC, and Más por Arona; also, the PSOE supported it, while Vox abstained, and Nueva Canarias voted against it.
The Mayor of Arona, Fátima Lemes, stated in a press release that this plan will mark "a before and after" for the development of the municipality, not only for Los Cristianos and Arona but for the whole of the south. In fact, the land area is as large as the core of Los Cristianos.
Luis García, the Councillor for Land Planning and Urbanism, mentioned that following the plenary agreement, if the outlined roadmap with the compensation board representing the landowners is followed, the partial reception of the urbanisation, including the plots designated for public facilities, can be materialised in the next few months.
The technical and legal team of the Urban Planning Department aims to start processing the licenses for El Mojón's development this year.
According to the approved agreement, out of the 908,306 square metres of El Mojón's surface, the council will assume ownership of 332,904 square metres of land (36% of the net area of the partial plan), which will be provided free of charge for public use.
These allocations will include 120,037 square metres of roads, parking, and pedestrian areas; 115,736 square metres of green spaces; an urban park covering 52,818 square metres, and three plots for cultural, sports, and educational facilities, totalling over 44,000 square metres.
Garcia emphasises that this land is fully urbanised, meaning it has essential urban infrastructure such as sanitation networks, electricity supply, water connections, and pavements. This will allow, after the mandatory technical checks, to begin immediately processing the reception and proposing projects for the plots designated for public facilities.
More Potential Traffic Congestion on TF-1 Access Roads
"Mindful of the traffic congestion problem already affecting Los Cristianos and the TF-1, and that the start of development in this area could further complicate the situation," stated Luis García, "alongside the unblocking of this partial plan, we have been working on finding short, medium, and long-term mobility solutions."
"We have already emphasised to the Tenerife Cabildo and the Canary Islands Government the urgency of prioritising this issue that affects thousands of people on the island on a daily basis," he added.
"No matter how much investment it may attract and how much employment it may generate, no urban development is worthwhile if it does not result in an improvement in the quality of life for citizens, and it is very difficult to have a life project in a municipality where you waste hours in short commutes due to congestion at certain times," he emphasised.
Finally, García expressed his gratitude to the government team, particularly Mayor Fátima Lemes, for their trust and support in pushing through this agreement, as well as to the "complex and arduous" work done by the technical and legal teams of Urban Planning and the Arona Council, in addition to the efforts of the technical part of the plan.
He also praised "the infinite patience shown by the landowners over all these years and their commitment to betting on this municipality despite the difficulties."
