- The third meeting of the year was held, focused on raising awareness of Cepsa's new projects for the Islands
- The Mayor of the capital of Tenerife, who presented the Santa Cruz Verde 2030 project, spoke at the event.
The third meeting of this year's Cepsa-Santa Cruz Liaison Committee was held recently. This time it was focused on informing its members of the details of the agreement reached between the Company and the City Council of the capital city on June 26, to begin to analyze the new uses of the Refinery's land.
On this occasion, the Liaison Committee was joined by the Mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, who explained the details of the Santa Cruz Verde 2030 project, stressing, as he has already done in other forums, that “this is a unique opportunity to complete and transform the city, with a project that will make headlines internationally: turning an oil refinery into the city's new green lung”.
The Mayor referred to Cepsa's historical link with Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the city where the company originated. “We have much to thank them for since 1930, because thanks to Cepsa many families have had jobs for generations, and without this company many neighborhoods would not have existed, nor would there have been so much development in Santa Cruz”, he said.
Bermúdez also said that Cepsa “is being very generous, as it is willing to give up much more land than it is legally obliged to do; this is because the Canary Islands are part of the company's identity and it has an emotional attachment to them”. “It's a historic agreement", he said at the close of his speech.
The Director of Cepsa in the Canary Islands, José Manuel Fernández-Sabugo, said it was very important that “the company is still able to perform its function as being the most important safeguard for security of energy supply in the Canary Islands, which is why the viability of the project must be guaranteed as well as the continuity of the company's activities in Tenerife, as a company that promotes economic and social development in the Canaries”.
“For the agreement to be successful, we also have to define the planning instruments and the urban planning regulations that will allow it to be developed under the appropriate conditions of regulatory stability and legal security”, Fernández-Sabugo said.
Both the Mayor and the Director of Cepsa in the Canary Islands responded to the Committee's numerous questions, stressing that “Cepsa certainly has no intention of leaving the Archipelago, and in fact not only are we going to stay here but we are going to increase our activity here, as we have done in recent years”.
The new LPG bottling and asphalt business lines have been introduced in the Canaries, and the service stations network has been expanded in order to have a higher profile and offer consumers more products. Cepsa also sells fuels directly and traditionally has a key position in the supply of fuels for marine and area navigation through subsidiaries such as Petrocan, Cepsa Aviation and CMD.
When asked about employment, Fernández-Sabugo confirmed that Cepsa carries out all its activities in the Canary Islands with 550 employees and that, in line with its strategic plan, it will continue to rely on its professionals from the Tenerife Refinery both for its business operations in the Canary Islands and to deliver on Cepsa's different projects, both in Spain and abroad.
Almost all the members of this Liaison Committee attended the meeting. There was a very interesting discussion and exchange of views, and everyone agreed that this agreement is a watershed moment toward attaining one of Santa Cruz’s historical aspirations. It was also noted that it was essential for communities to take part in all stages of the project, right from the outset.