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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
EDITION 526
FRIDAY 22nd MAY TO THURSDAY 4th JUNE 2015 2015 ELECTIONS PAGES 20-21
NEW FUND-RAISING BATTLE
PAGE 6
PAGES 29 - 36
FURY AS PUERTO TAKES ACTION OVER G OLD BUS STATION
Thomas Cook gives thumbs-up to Mimiland
LOBAL travel company, Thomas Cook says the ambitious multi-million euro project to create “Mimiland” in the Guimar area is just what the island needs.
“Pitiful” delay leads to novel idea
P
UERTO de la Cruz is absolutely furious about a delay in transforming the old “unsightly” bus station, even though the council has come up with a novel cover-up idea. The building has been closed since 2009 following the discovery of structural deficiencies and the plan has always been to convert it into an entertainment complex and retail space. The new bus station will be constructed on land next to the existing one in calle de El Pozo. However, nothing has been done and the scheme has now
been frozen for 18 months, a situation Puerto describes as “pitiful”. The old bus station is in a prominent position in the town and campaigners say it is presenting an unacceptable face of Puerto de la Cruz, especially for tourists who must wonder why there is stalemate. The Mayor, Sandra Rodrí-
guez puts the blame on the Spanish government as the new bus station site is owned by the Ministr y of Development which also needs to formally approve the Plan for Modernisation. A certificate can then be given for new use of the land. Disgust at the delay has been echoed by president of Tenerife Cabildo, Carlos Alonso who accused the government of “mistreatment”. In a bid to make the tatty
building less conspicious, a huge banner was due to go up this week featuring hundreds of photos showing lovely scenes of Puerto. These have been submitted by holiday-makers and residents via the web and include traditional celebrations. The work is costing 35,000 euros and is being carried out under the Cabildo’s employment plan. They say it might only be a small action but it should have a great visual impact and return some of the splendour back to the neglected site.
Praise for the Hemi Group’s vision was given by a leading director, Björn Eriksson who described it as “innovative” and stressed the need to “create new products to relaunch the Canary market”. The tour operator brings 600,000 tourists to Tenerife each year and believes the massive Water World project will be a huge success. Mr. Eriksson is product and operations director for the Med, Caribbean and the Canaries and was on a visit to Guimar to find out more about the 94 million euro Mimiland vision. He believes the water park would be a major alternative tourist product for Tenerife which had been “anchored” as far as leiure offerings are concerned and needed to avoid a drop in income.
Mimiland is to be created on the site of an old quarry and will include a four-star hotel with more than 400 rooms, a commercial centre with 40 shops, supermarket, water park, entertainment and restaurants. There will also be a nightclub, health spa and relaxation areas, surf school, sports schools for tennis, padel and swimming, a dive centre, trampolining, large aquarium, conference rooms, fashion centre with catwalk, social areas with museum and theatre, large wave pool, ferris wheel and roller coaster amongst the many attractions. The economic forecast is to receive 900,000 visitors the first year, which would mean revenues of 130 million euros, in addition to 1,000 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs.
Warning after patera arrival
T
HE authorities have once again warned that anyone involved in human trafficking will be hunted down and prosecuted.
Illegal immigrants continue to try and get into Spain from Morocco and the most recent arrival in the Canary Islands was a small boat spotted near Fuerteventura. Maritime rescue intercepted the patera carrying 43 subSaharans, two of whom were women. Medics treated three of the occupants but they did not need to go to hospital. The Canaries had been alerted that a boat had left the Tan Tan area of Morocco and it was located from the air. National Police recently arrested two men, aged 22 and 23, who had skippered a five metre long boat from Almeria. They had charged the 21 people on board, including a minor, 600 euros each for the trip.