The "endless" car queues to access Timanfaya continue to repeat themselves and the solution the Cabildo is working on is to create two new parking lots with shuttle buses. However, the institution points out that this solution will not arrive until the month of September, once the summer high season is over.
“The real problem that Timanfaya has is that it does not have a large parking lot, as is the case in other tourist centers, such as Jameos del Agua”, explains the CEO of the Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism (CACT), Benjamín Perdomo, who for the moment does not propose other options, such as selling tickets with an assigned time or limiting capacity. “We hope that the two parking lots will be ready after the pilgrimage, one in Yaiza and the other in an esplanade in Mancha Blanca, in Tinajo”, he says.
While Jameos can accommodate about 600 vehicles, the Fire Mountains only have a capacity of 200. “Until those 200 cars leave, new ones cannot enter and there is no other parking lot nearby or another place to leave the car, that is the real problem”, adds the councilor.
Tourists in the “forbidden zone”
Some tourists have had to wait in the car for up to two hours to make the visit, first before accessing the center and then on the internal road. This is leaving occasional scenes of tourists who not only get out of the car to take photos, but even walk through the protected area, as happened this Monday, as seen in the video that La Voz has had access to.
“We always try to get people to wait inside the cars, but obviously it is difficult to wait inside for so long in the queues. Normally, people get out of the car to take photos, but we don't usually have problems, it's something occasional”, adds the councilor. It should be remembered that transit outside the road is prohibited and may lead to sanctions.
The creation of two parking lots will occur in the short term, but not immediately, so the Cabildo is dealing with the problem through recommendations.
“We know that everything is concentrated in the morning, between 09:30 and 12, so we are recommending that people go through Tinajo, through Mancha Blanca, and not go on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is when we have the most influx”, explains Benjamín Perdomo.
However, the councilor indicates that there is also another handicap this year, the increase in individual vehicles after the pandemic.
“People have stopped using tour operator buses to go in individual cars, individual visits have increased a lot, so there are more cars and that obviously increases the pressure on the parking lot”, he emphasizes.
“We are already seeing the results, the queues are no longer only on the Yaiza side, but also on the Tinajo side, but that does not mean that this will not be resolved until there are two parking lots outside”, he adds.
Finally, the councilor recalls that they are “the only government group that is trying to propose an alternative, because the queues have been around all their lives, especially in summer. It has always been a problem that no one has put a stop to”.
