Puerto del Rosario expects to put regulated parking out to tender in October as new municipal vehicle depot moves forward

Puerto del Rosario Town Council expects to put the new regulated parking service out to tender in October. At the same time, work is moving forward on the future municipal vehicle depot and towing service, two of the main outstanding projects in the area of traffic.

The plans were outlined by the councillor responsible for the department, Jennifer Pérez, in an interview with La Voz de Fuerteventura. She highlighted the initial approval, at Monday’s council meeting, of updated tax regulations covering the removal and storage of vehicles. The regulations dated back to 1992 and were last amended in 2004.

Pérez said the existing fees had made it difficult for years to hire external companies because “what the external companies providing that service charged was minimal, and it was not profitable for them”. As a result, she stressed, “we had so many problems not only when it came to removing an abandoned vehicle, but also one that was illegally parked”.

Pérez expects the updated fees to help move the future municipal depot project forward.

The councillor recalled that the Town Council commissioned the design of the future depot at the beginning of this year. The project, she revealed, “has now been completed, and the economic study still needs to be finalised”. The document will have to incorporate the new fees before the file can be completed and put out to tender.

Pérez estimates that, once the process to approve the regulations is complete, the tender documents could be ready in about a month.

“I think those tender documents need to be 100% complete now, so they can be put out to tender, and we’ll be lucky if a company comes forward and is able to carry out the construction and provide the service,” she said.

The Town Council expects construction of the depot to take approximately one year. It is planned for a municipal plot of around 10,000 square metres in the Plantas Nuevas area.

Regulated parking moves to procurement

At the same time, the Town Council is working to restore the regulated parking service, which was suspended after the local government terminated the previous contract.

Pérez acknowledged that calls to bring it back had been particularly persistent among traders on the capital’s main streets. “Every single day they call us asking, please, for regulated parking to be brought back urgently,” she explained.

The new tender documents propose extending the regulated areas to León y Castillo, Virgen de la Peña and Bachiller streets, as well as part of the Los Pozos area.

On León y Castillo and Virgen de la Peña, the plan agreed following meetings with traders is to avoid turning the entire length of either street into regulated parking. The Town Council’s proposal provides for four regulated parking spaces per block, with a time limit of approximately one hour to encourage vehicle turnover.

A different arrangement will apply in Los Pozos: a parking area intended mainly for residents, in response to parking problems that the Town Council also attributes to spaces being occupied by businesses involved in vehicle sales.

The file is now with the Procurement Department, and both the technical specifications and the economic study have been completed.

“I think those tender documents could soon, in October, be published on the Public Procurement Platform, so this can become a reality,” Pérez said.

She also announced that street-marking work will be put out to tender shortly.

Six new cameras to monitor number plates

During the interview, the councillor also announced that the Town Council will install six new security cameras with the capacity to read number plates, bringing the number of devices installed across the municipality to 30.

According to Pérez, the systems will improve monitoring of vehicles entering Puerto del Rosario and help identify cars linked to reports of street racing or speeding.

She said the cameras installed in El Matorral had helped reduce some of the incidents reported by residents and argued that the network should continue to be expanded gradually.

“When we took office, there wasn’t a single security camera. Now, after three years, we have managed to install 30,” she said, highlighting the devices’ importance, particularly as a deterrent, in certain areas.

Residents vs vehicles in Llanos de La Mareta

The interview also addressed residents’ complaints about public spaces being occupied in Llanos de La Mareta, particularly by vehicles belonging to car-hire companies that park wherever they like, including on pavements, blocking residents’ way.

Pérez said the Local Police continued to monitor the area and that the Town Council had repeatedly urged these companies to provide private spaces in which to keep their vehicles.

The councillor acknowledged the particular difficulties in this neighbourhood because of its proximity to the airport. She also noted that private vehicles may remain parked on public roads for three days, provided they comply with the regulations.

Regarding companies occupying pavements and other areas intended for pedestrians, she said the mayor, who is directly responsible for the Local Police, had insisted that enforcement be strengthened and that the companies find their own plots or facilities for parking their fleets.