In the Island Environmental Complex, “the situation is critical.” The findings from regulatory inspections indicate “four significant deviations and a further eight yet to be corrected,” prompting the Cabildo to urgently take measures to protect the environment and the citizens of Arico.” This statement was made by the mayor, Olivia Delgado, after visiting the area surrounding the island’s landfill the day before yesterday.
The current state of the facility generates “profound concern and unease,” as Tenerife’s waste management system “is overwhelmed and operating well beyond its designed capacity.” Last year, 568,953 tonnes of waste were handled, far exceeding the limits for which the complex was designed. The Arico government warns that “the situation has surpassed not only its operational capacity, but also the load capacity of the municipality itself.” The landfill’s operations harm “the wellbeing of citizens, public health, the natural environment, territorial perception, and our economic development opportunities,” the mayor warns.
In April 2024, a fire was registered, followed by another incident on Wednesday night, affecting stored recyclable materials. “These are merely the most visible signs of a fragile system lacking proper planning.” The mayor asserts that “the complex’s lack of resilience was evident when, following the first fire, the Cabildo resorted to dumping unprocessed and unsorted solid waste, an emergency measure that continued for months.”
Arico suffers from “an increase in unpleasant odours, health risks, and environmental degradation, among other issues.” Additionally, the negative effects on the municipality’s appeal as a tourist, residential, and agricultural or business investment destination are noted, “which limits opportunities for economic diversification and breeds a growing sense of grievance among the local population.”
“Arico is tired of being the doormat of the Island,” asserts the First Deputy Mayor, Andrés Martínez, who adds: “We demand better waste management and more compensation.” The councillor for the Environment, Miguel Beby, emphasises that “we cannot allow the operational deficiencies of the complex, such as dumping in cells and the lack of contingency plans, to continue harming our municipality.”
To urgently address the situation, the Arico City Council requested a meeting with the president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, during which they will propose concrete measures, including an action plan with defined timelines to rectify the deficiencies in the management of the Environmental Complex, implement measures to advance towards a circular economy and reduce landfill dumping, activate the clean point planned for the site “and provide fair compensation to mitigate the impacts currently experienced by the citizens of Arico, among other issues.”
The three authorities were joined during their visit to the area surrounding the Environmental Complex by the councillor of Employment, Laura Morales, municipal technicians, and recognised experts in environmental management, such as Professor of Environmental Engineering Eladio Romero and Jaime Coello, director of the Telesforo Bravo Foundation.
Notes: Under the Prosecutor’s Office Since 2023
In March 2023, the Arico City Council –then governed by Primero Arico, CC and PP– reported to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office “numerous deficiencies and evidence of environmental crime” at the island landfill, based on a report from the municipal Department of Environment following an aerial inspection of the Environmental Complex conducted by Evalúa.
Among the anomalies, they noted the direct entry of 20 trucks into the landfill cell carrying unprocessed and unclassified waste.
The then Councillor for Economy and Finance, now a spokesperson for CC in opposition, Víctor García, stated, “The Cabildo (then governed by PSOE and Ciudadanos) is playing with the largest source of employment in Arico. The management of the landfill has been disastrous and has worsened the environmental and economic situation of the municipality.”
This week, Arico Somos Todos confirmed that “the sealing of the cell located on the southern flank of the landfill is not being carried out correctly, as it is visibly apparent that the waste remains completely exposed to the elements, without being compacted or covered with the required layer of earth.”
