One of the largest public contracts in Tenerife is now ready for bidding. The Puerto de la Cruz City Council has completed all necessary documentation to award the 40-year concession for the integral water cycle, valued at 420 million euros. Once all documents for this complex process – including the new contract regulation, tariff regime, master plan, economic-financial viability study, and investment programme – are finalised, the next step will involve presenting the proposal to the council for definitive approval on the 29th of this month. Following this, the bidding process will commence with an announcement on the public procurement platform.

Addressing Inherited Challenges

Pedro Antonio Campos, the Councillor for Finance and Public Procurement, asserts that this initiative will address “one of the main inherited problems” from the previous socialist administration led by Marco González, who left office following a motion of no confidence from the Popular Party, Coalición Canaria, and the Portuense Citizen Assembly on 16th August 2024. The problem at hand involved the expiry of key public service contracts, particularly those concerning water, waste, and gardens. The water contract expired on 6th September 2021 and had not been updated. “We prioritised the integral water cycle due to the crisis regarding discharges at Playa Jardín, which occurred during Marco González’s administration and highlighted the severe deficiencies in the network throughout the municipality,” explains Campos.

A Historic Transformation

The new concession for the next four decades is set to lead to “a comprehensive and historic transformation and modernisation” of the water network in Puerto de la Cruz (population: 31,000). The councillor overseeing the dossier notes that improvements will not only be made to the supply infrastructure but also to the sewage systems for collecting and treating wastewater. “It was urgent to establish an ambitious plan to ensure Puerto de la Cruz is no longer in the news for pollution and widespread deficiencies in wastewater treatment, but instead becomes a model of sustainability. This is what we aim to achieve with this new contract, which will comply strictly with current regulations,” he elaborates.

Key Investment and Infrastructure Updates

To implement this plan, the successful contractor will need to invest 31 million euros. Among the requirements of the new concession is the complete renovation of the pumping stations, which are essential for sewage systems that elevate wastewater or stormwater to a higher point when gravity cannot do so. Not only will these stations be rehabilitated, but those located in public maritime-terrestrial domains, right beside the sea, will also be removed.

Improvements in Punta Brava

The plan also includes overhauls to the sewage system in Punta Brava, one of the main sources of sewage discharges that led to the neighbouring Playa Jardín being closed for 349 days (from 3rd July 2024 to 17th June 2025). This action will resolve a significant issue affecting this neighbourhood, partially explaining the crisis faced by the primary bathing area in Puerto de la Cruz: around 125 of the 450 homes lack connection to the municipal sewage network. With this investment, all homes will be connected to the system, and cesspools will be closed.

Additionally, a desalination plant will be constructed adjacent to the Punta Brava regional wastewater treatment plant, on municipal land. This initiative aims to achieve two objectives: prevent potential service interruptions due to water stress and improve the quality of water supplied to residents, which currently has high nitrate levels. The plan is to increase the supply of desalinated water and blend it with water from galleries and wells, which contain a high concentration of mineral salts, prevalent throughout the supply cycle. New reservoirs will also be constructed, including one in San Nicolás, with a capacity of 5,000 cubic metres.

“With this plan, we will eliminate all discharges and connect all homes to the sewage networks. These measures will enable us to achieve all certifications guaranteeing the quality of the marine waters surrounding our municipality,” stresses the Finance Councillor. He hopes that with these efforts, “the beaches of Puerto de la Cruz will regain the blue flags” lost due to discharge incidents. These issues not only affect the three coves at Playa Jardín but also other coastal areas such as San Telmo and around Lago Martiánez.