The Wine Regulatory Council, which has been based in San Bartolomé for 25 years, will have to leave this municipality, having failed to renew the agreement that had been maintained for two and a half decades with the City Council. "It's a shame. Neither I personally nor any of the members want to leave, but they have told us that we have to leave the premises," the Council's secretary, Nereida Pérez, confirmed to La Voz.
That premises was ceded by the City Council, which now wants to give it a new use, to install the family respite center there. That is why it has decided not to renew the agreement, which expires next April. "Our main project for this legislature is the family respite center, because we have to solve one of the biggest problems in the municipality, dependency," explained the mayor, Alexis Tejera, who argues that this location is "the best location", since among other things it is in the center of the town and would cover a need that the elderly of the municipality and their families currently have.
However, he also emphasizes that they offered an alternative to the Regulatory Council. "We tried to relocate it to the jewel in the crown, the Mayor Guerra house," he said. However, the Council considers that this property does not meet the necessary conditions for the activity they carry out. "It is more of a house to be used as a museum, something very beautiful, but not to be an office and to develop administrative work for a public with different needs," said Nereida Pérez.
Months of meetings without agreement
Both parties confirm that they have held several meetings in recent months, but these have ended without agreement and the Council has already started talks with other city councils. "Teguise opened its doors to us immediately and we are with them," explained Pérez, who has announced that the option that is currently on the table is to move to a space that that city council would give them in the agro-industrial complex.
However, although he knows that San Bartolomé's decision is "irreversible", he still hopes that this move to another municipality can be avoided, either by finding another location for the family respite center or by offering them a warehouse that does meet the necessary conditions. "We have been here for 25 years, we have never had any problems, we are very rooted and San Bartolomé is the gateway to La Geria," said the secretary of the Regulatory Council.
"We have done everything possible," says the mayor of San Bartolomé, who argues that the City Council does not have more properties that it can offer. "We have put all the meat on the grill so that they move to the Mayor Guerra house, which is one of the jewels in the crown of the architecture of this island," he defended, explaining that they have made several visits to the house together with members of the Council, which have also been attended by Heritage technicians from the Cabildo, as well as the Councilor for Works and himself as mayor, offering them to carry out works to adapt the property.
Attention to more than 1,300 people
In this regard, Nereida Pérez states that in each of those four visits they have been finding "a new impediment". Among other things, she emphasizes that the space is small for public attention, since in times of subsidies or the declaration of the harvest, more than 1,300 people pass through that headquarters. In addition, she points out that there is not enough parking in the area, and that the house does not have the space they require to store the glasses, the counter-labels and the documentation that they must keep for five years, in addition to housing spaces such as a tasting room.
"I don't get into whether it's adequate or not. I offer you everything I have, but if they don't see it well...?", replied the mayor, who wanted to emphasize that the relationship with the Council is still "fantastic", and has "congratulated" them for "the behavior they have had all these years". Thus, he takes for granted the transfer of the headquarters to another municipality, although he continues to bet on linking the Mayor Guerra house to the wine sector, creating a museum and interpretation center there, for which he hopes to count on the Regulatory Council.
"But the time has come to provide a solution to the problem of dependency," Tejera insisted, lamenting that the Government of the Canary Islands "has done nothing for 20 years in dependency" and reiterating that this is a priority for his government group. "We understand," they point out from the Regulatory Council, which still considers that alternatives could be sought. In addition, they believe that the premises they currently occupy do not meet the requirements to house a center for the elderly and that it would be necessary to undertake many works. In fact, they explain that they themselves had a project to have improved that premises, but they started requesting permits to change the doors -since it is affected by the area of influence of the Casa Ajei- and to date they had not received authorization from Heritage.
"Haría would surely look for something for us"
Regarding the transfer, the secretary of the Council has also stressed that the City Council has not imposed a deadline for leaving the premises, so it could occur after the month of April. "We are now starting conversations with Teguise," she specified, adding that this Monday they plan to visit again the space that this City Council would give them in the complex, and that they consider that "it does meet more conditions".
Thus, this is now the first option to house the new headquarters of the Regulatory Council. "We have spoken with Tías, Teguise and San Bartolomé," Nereida Pérez detailed, pointing out that Tías only had the Tegoyo house available and that they have not considered other municipalities due to the distance. "Haría would surely look for something for us, because with this they would boost the municipality, but it is a bit far from the center," she explained, insisting that in the absence of closing the agreement, the agro-industrial complex is now the main alternative.