Palm-Mar Special - Island Connections
During one of Manuel Barrios regular visits to El Palm-Mar the Island Connections had a chat to him about the latest developments in this unique district of Arona.
In an area that Barrios describes as, “one of the loveliest on the island” we were intrigued to know what had held up development of this district for so long. “Some people came along many years ago, bought all this up, drew up a partial development land and then nothing. They found a lovely place and they had the money. But when it comes down to it, everyone isn’t capable of doing everything. They had the vision to buy it, but not the ability to develop it or manage it”, The property passed through various hands and some of them built a little more, but it wasn’t until Urbis took over that things really began to move along. They didn’t have it easy either, their ´stewardship` coincided with a tightening up of local and European laws and licences were being bogged down in red tape, but they has confidence in the area and the project that they wanted to develop and things finally began to move. Then in 2003, there were several changes in the upper echelon of the local government and Manuel Barrios took over responsibility for the urban planning department.
The skilled politician, as ex-mayor of Arona as well as a long-serving councillor, hides an astute and tenacious character behind his charm and affable, grandfatherly smile. In what seemed like no time at all he began slicing through red tape, legally and without shortcuts, he streamlined the system, making it more orderly and efficient and without increasing the number of civil servants. It used to take tow and half years to get a development licence, now it takes just 30 days. The governing body who agree to issue the licences, the Comisión de Gobierno, now meet every Friday and investors are notified the same day by telephone if their licences have been agreed or not. In the same way, the `Certificado urbanistico´ used to take four months, now it takes three days. All of which, added to the area’s other charms, “makes Arona today one of the most attractive places in the islands to invest”, According to Barrios.
As proof of the pudding over 180 million euros have been spent in El Palm Mar alone in the last two years.
During the development stage of any new area, by law the builders and developers have to get together on a regular basis with local representatives from the council to check on progress and iron out any problems. Manuel Barrios always goes himself. He personally attends all meetings, “I want to know at first hand any problems there may be, if they exist, and be up to date on what is happening – get first hand information”. This hands-on approach gives tremendous confidence to investors as smaller problems can be sorted out almost immediately and more complicated difficulties resolved mush more quickly as they are going through fewer channels – there’s a direct line to the top.
And for once the horse has actually been put before the cart. The road pavements are laid, the water and sewage pipe-work’s down and waiting, street lighting in and functioning, there’s a booster station for the television signal, and another to ensure perfect mobile phone coverage over the whole area the public bus service has been officially requested and should begin soon. The verges central reservations are landscaped with mature plants and trees and there is already a large park with ready laid footpaths, wonderful views over the neighbourhood and the sea-breeze blowing gently from the nearby coast.
More green areas and a sizeable town square next to the sea are also included in the plans, as is a 13.000 square meter luxury sport’s centre, including tennis and squash courts. There are currently five golf courses in the immediate area: Golf del Sur, Los Palos, Amarilla Golf, Las Américas and Costa Adeje. A little further off is the brand new Abama course and there are plans currently up for approval for another in Las Galletas. Long term plans for the development of that part of La Rasca in which building is permitted also include a golf course and the Punta de la Rasca is also recognised as one of the sites on the island for the clarity of its waters and wealth of marine fauna and flora. Sanitation stations are already in and so cleverly hidden that more that one tourist will surely pose in front of them for their holiday snaps. A water tanks enclosed by hewn stone walls appears to be a hillside stronghold station on the seafront has been disguised as a costal fort. The coastal walk is also ready, with its benches, children’s playground and Gaudí-style tiling; it snakes along the whole of the seafront ready for joggers, elderly pre-lunch appetite-warming strolls or mums with prams and trolleys. Following the council’s laudable and rigidly followed new protocols, the whole of the area is totally accessible for the handicapped.
This is a neighbourhood with a finite growth, not for El Palm-Mar the apartments blocks marching further and further up the mountain.
It lies cupped between tow protected areas, the Malpaís of La Rasca and the Montaña de Guaza, both of which have had the benefit of protective legislation for almost twenty years.
The Malpais de La Rasca, guarded by its lone lighthouse, is a volcanic landscape of great beauty of over 315 hectares, which has great scientific, cultural and archaeological value and is home to several species of both flora and fauna that are in danger of extinction. Guaza’s main value has always been in its geology and geomorphology, a unique landscape of enormous scientific interest and over 725 hectares, containing fossils of extinct species and a considerable number of the island’s giant spotted lizards which were thought to be extinct until just nine years ago. This then is the backdrop, the stage for this new residential neighbourhood development.
The one thing that makes it so private could be the only drawback, the access via the Guaza to Las Galletas road. However the council has somehow acquired over 20.000 square metres of land at no charge, to develop a `rambla-style´ entrance, similar to the one recently put in place in Los Cristianos, directly from the Guaza junction. Barrio was adamant, “the road will go in, the plans have been accepted and we have the land”.
At one time the councillor had proposed a tunnel to connect the new neighbourhood with Los Cristianos, but for modern time, modern thinking and he now believes that as a delightful, picturesque additional alternative, the best solution would be a water taxi service, “in five minutes you could be in Los Cristianos… it would be an additional public service, cheaper to set up and run and a tourist attraction”. The councillor doesn’t believe it would be complicated, “it just take someone with money and vision to draw up a project and apply for the concession”.
The idea is charming, conjuring up visions of Amsterdam and Venice and dressing-up to sail in comfortable launches to visit exclusive areas for a special meal, luxury shops or just a stroll and a good look around.
All the biggest developers in Tenerife are involved in El Palm-Mar, as are some of the most important companies from the peninsula such as Grupo PRASA, which is one of the largest and most important of the Spanish mainland development companies with projects all over Europe.
Looking around it is hardly surprising that the area is attracting such high profile attention. A privileged climate, surrounded by six million square meters of protected areas, privacy, security with 24 hour private security guard as well as the local police, tranquillity, wonderful walks through landscaped parks or natural scenery, some of the most spectacular sunsets in the Canaries and La Gomera posing coyly on the horizon.
An unbeatable location with top professional builders vying to outdo each other in the splendour and quality of their building projects and wholly residential.
El Palm-Mar has the hallmark of becoming the Marbella of the Canaries a wonderful place to live and an outstanding investment for the future.
