Los Gigantes Beach Closed For Months
A preliminary report by the Instituto Canario de Investigaciones de la Construcción, (Icinco), into last Sunday’s landslide in Los Gigantes says the rock fall was probably caused by water.
The report points to a water course which runs through a small natural tunnel in the cliffs at a height of around eight metres.
Experts believe it is the increased humidity and damp from this source that has, over a long period, seeped into the cliffs, weakening the rock face.
Meanwhile, Santiago del Teide mayor, Juan Damián Gorrín, has announced that the beach will remain closed for at least four months.
This latest announcement is yet another nail in the coffin of the area’s small business sector, already suffering from the fall in visitor numbers, as a result of the economic downturn
Mayor Gorrín, meanwhile, is toughing it out amid widespread criticism of what many see, as the council’s failure to act sooner and has said that he has no intention of stepping down.
In fact, the Mayor continues to lay the blame for last Sunday’s tragedy, firmly at the feet of the Department of Coasts.
Gorrín repeated claims that the council had previously submitted plans to stabilise the cliff face but that these plans had been rejected, a claim that has been denied by the Department of Coasts.
In what many view as an extraordinary outburst, the under-siege Gorrín claimed that the Department of Coasts had rejected every plan put forward for improvements to the shoreline in Santiago del Teide, while at the same time approving plans submitted by Socialist administrations in other municipalities.