One of Tenerife’s biggest eyesores looks a step closer to removal thanks to a major funding decision by the island’s governing body.
The continued presence of the unfinished 22-storey building on the coast outside Santa Cruz has been the subject of controversy for decades after plans for the 740-room hotel it was meant to house were scrapped in the 1970s due to planning permission irregularities.
The massive building close to the TF1 motorway in the Añaza suburb of the capital is seen by tens of thousands of motorists every day and is considered a safety hazard due to its crumbling state.
Various attempts to pull it down have failed for legal reasons but recent years have brought a concerted effort by the local and regional authorities to resolve the issues that have blocked its demolition, including the identification of its current owners to serve a compulsory purchase order.
It now seems that progress has been made and the days of the building popularly known as “el mamotreto” (monstrosity) are finally numbered.
Tenerife’s governing council, the Cabildo, has just announced a grant of 500,000 euros to Santa Cruz to initiate the expropriation of the land occupied by the eyesore and restore the coast to its original state prior to 1975.
2.5 million euros had already been earmarked for the operation by the Canarian government in January, once the land has been formally transferred, it is estimated that the complicated demolition job will be put out to tender early next year, with completion likely some time in 2027.
Sanat Cruz mayor José Manuel Bermúdez expressed his delight at the funding and the beginning of the end of a presence that has blighted the natural environment of the capital’s south coast for half a century.
