The plenary session of the Tenerife Island Council has approved the hearing process for the promoter of the 'Underwater Garden' project, a marine park being processed on the coast of Guía de Isora. The initiative had lost its status as a Project of Insular Interest because its initial regenerative purpose was deemed "lapsed".
The insular director of Strategic Projects, Alicia Leirachá, explained that the initial project report was presented as an offer of "unique experiences" linked to the sea and nature, with "all favorable reports" in the initial phase. However, the promoter insisted on the need to link the terrestrial and maritime sides of the project, but the Council, within its competencies, could only process the land-based part for the Declaration of Insular Interest in 2022.
Leirachá detailed that, on land, the project encompassed common rustic land and coastal environmental protection areas. "Only the common rustic land can be the subject of the project of insular interest," she stated, as the maritime part and the coastal environmental protection area fell outside the Council's planning.
The promoter was informed that they must either withdraw or reconfigure the project according to the Declaration of Insular Interest. After agreeing to the modification and obtaining extensions, the proposal was again denied due to a lack of necessary authorizations, both for the sea and the coastal protection rustic land, and without the essential environmental regeneration that justified the initial declaration.
The spokesperson for the Socialist Group, Pedro Martín, reflected on the efficiency of the Declaration of Project of Insular Interest, introduced to "expedite" actions. He noted that from February 2022 to June 2026, four years later, the project might be denied before the year's end.
The project faced opposition from groups such as the platform Salvar Punta Blanca, Greenpeace, and Ecologistas en Acción from the outset, who labeled it "greenwashing" and a threat. Ecologistas en Acción argued that a regenerative park should involve "minimal and respectful intervention," not a tourist complex for thousands of daily visitors. The Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN) also warned of negative effects such as "irreversible loss of land" and an increase in pollution discharges.
Over 20 Canary Islands scientists signed a public declaration expressing concern over the "instrumental use of science" to justify commercial projects. They criticized that restoration is becoming a "narrative for accessing public funds" for "commercial and speculative activity." They pointed out that the marine part of the project received 11 million euros for research and development, which will now serve a theme park in a Special Conservation Area already under pressure.
