The Haría City Council has initiated the procedures to evict the kiosk-bar on La Garita beach in Arrieta, which has been operating for years with the municipal concession expired. "There are many bars in socio-cultural centers that are being exploited by people without a valid contract from the City Council," admitted the acting mayor, Víctor Robayna.
In this regard, he states that they had already started working on some centers to legalize them, such as the one in Ye, and that the intention was to continue with all of them, but now the Arrieta kiosk has become a priority. The reason, according to Robayna, is the works that are planned in that area, which depend on a subsidy from the Canary Islands Government.
"We have an execution deadline that ends in December of this year and we are on a tight schedule," explains the acting mayor, who clarifies that these renovation works in La Garita require removing the kiosk, which has several deficiencies in its structure.
"Right now, the platform on which it stands is quite deteriorated. There are even some metal structures that need to be removed, and what the technician says is that the kiosk has to be dismantled to make it available to the company that is going to carry out the works, to organize that space and put in new paving," he specified.
In addition to this, there were other deficiencies. "It had gray water problems because it didn't have the drainage issue, it also had problems with the electricity and the differential tripped, and we have been patching it up. It is not suitable for a beach. La Garita deserves something more, with respect to those people who will be affected by evicting the kiosk," added Robayna.
Could end up in court and be delayed
Regarding the project that is intended to be executed in the area, it has a budget of 300,000 euros, of which the Canary Islands Government would contribute half, and the objective is to improve accessibility and make the space "more diaphanous and more integrated".
However, its execution will depend on whether that kiosk can be evicted first. For the moment, the issue has already been taken to the last Plenary Session of Haría and now the affected party has a period to present allegations. "It's the law, we can't enter like Russia through Ukraine," says the acting mayor.
In this case, the kiosk was tendered in 1992, after the intervention carried out in the area by Costas, and since then it has not been renewed or put out to tender again. "It is true that I have sat down with the owners of the premises and I have conveyed the intention of the City Council. That is to say, we are not doing it behind the backs or by surprise of the owners," he clarifies.
However, he does not rule out that the issue will end up in court, as happened with the kiosk on El Reducto beach in Arrecife. "I suppose they will go to litigation," Robayna ventures, opening the door to a possibility that would make it impossible to meet the deadline for the execution of the subsidy, which ends in nine months.
In the event that they manage to carry out the work, the acting mayor proposes that a new kiosk "a little more modern" could be installed afterwards, if Costas authorizes it. "It is true that this one was very simple and has been expanded over time by the owners, and now it is disfigured with what it was at the beginning," he says.
However, he insists that if a new one were to be installed, it would have to be put out to tender, "so that everyone has the same opportunity".
Socio-cultural centers, waiting to be "legalized"
He assures that the same process will be carried out with the bars of the socio-cultural centers, although he has not given deadlines. For the moment, he states that they have already started the procedures in the Ye teleclub, where the first thing was to legalize it, adapting it to the ordinance of classified activities, in aspects such as the electrical installation, which is the same thing that must be done in the rest.
Also in Punta Mujeres he affirms that they asked the previous "owner" to vacate it in order to adapt the facilities and put them out to tender, while it remains pending to do the same in the socio-cultural center of La Tegala in Haría, where they already have a project with the Cabildo, and in the Arrieta teleclub.
In addition, the restaurant El Charcón, on the Arrieta pier, is also in the same situation. "When the time comes, we will study all that part," says Robayna, who insists that they have started with the La Garita kiosk not to "focus" on anyone, but because of the "urgency" of those works.
"The person who was inside, I think, has to be grateful that until today he has been able to exploit it, but also as mayor and as an institution we have to give everyone the opportunity," he defends.
