Demolition contract awarded for hotel 48 years after it was abandoned

On Friday, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Council awarded the project for the demolition of the abandoned hotel on the Añaza coast, with a budget of 123,000 euros and an execution period of five months. The municipal authorities say that they have been unable to locate the owner of the structure, whose construction started in 1973 and was abandoned two years later, leaving the project unfinished on "coastal protected rustic land" for nearly 50 years.

The Urban Planning Department has tried, unsuccessfully, on numerous occasions to locate the owners of the land where the construction is located, so they could "take responsibility, oversee the demolition, and authorize the execution of the constant safety work required due to the danger it poses to people passing the area."

This construction project started 50 years ago in 1973 when a private developer applied to the City Council of Tenerife's capital for a building permit to construct a large 741-room hotel. The permit was granted in accordance with the prevailing laws of that time and the framework of Special Interest Tourism plans.

However, the developers abandoned the project in 1975, leaving behind a structure that still stands today, a 'Y' shaped building with 22 floors, covering an area of 2,350 square metres, and an estimated construction size of over 40,000 square metres.

The Mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, said that "the demolition of this building on the Acorán coast has faced numerous difficulties and setbacks due to its private ownership." The mayor has also emphasized that initiating the process to demolish it is "good news for the Southwest district, Añaza, and the entire municipality, as it will remove a long-abandoned eyesore from the coastal view, a demand of the citizens."

Meanwhile, the Councillor for Urban Planning, Zaida González, has expressed her intention to "finally, within this term, put an end to a building that has caused so many problems since its construction and poses a safety risk to the public."

"The City Council and the Urban Planning department have invested a considerable amount of money to prevent the public from accessing this building, so we hope to proceed with its demolition because, in addition to being dangerous, it causes significant damage to the landscape, as it is located on protected rustic land."