Saturday, August 05, 2006

Question over EU Citizens Rights in Tenerife

In an interview with Tenerife's most conservative newspaper, El Dia, President of the Island Corporation, Ricardo Melchior, says that the ecosystem of the island is not compatible with "free residence" and that he is preoccupied by the high density of the population. In his opinion, in sensitive areas, such as these islands, the absolute freedom of establishment of EU citizens cannot exist.

This "thinking out loud", which, it has to be said, is done in a newspaper frequently criticized for it's xenophobic outlook, would be against current EU policy, however, EU residents should be aware that they are thinking it.

Figures quoted in the interview underline that the population of Tenerife has increased by 300,000 in the last 30 years, however, the alarm aspect is that this has not been at the average rate of 10,000 per year. Thirty years ago, the growth was 4,000 inhabitants, whilst in the past year, 20,000 arrived.

Melchior adds that, one must not forget that around 1,000 square kilometers, 50% of the island, is protected. Of the remaining 1,000 square kilometers, half is agricultural. That leaves 500 square kilometers, in which today, live one million people (800,000 on the census, the remainder in a non-legal situation), to which visitors must be added. This is equivalent to 20 people per hectare, the same as the average in a European city and double the density of an American city.

Nevertheless, he defends, as important social works, a huge shopping list of construction projects, roadworks, trams, etc., undertaken during his two terms at the head of the island institution for the last eight years, of which he was previously Vice President and the proposed network of trains, the second runway at the Tenerife South airport and the contentious Granadilla port.

"El ecosistema de la Isla no es compatible con la libre residencia"