The Tenerife Athletic Stadium, which is located in Tincer, was inaugurated officially yesterday in a moving ceremony which counted on the presence of the main regional, island and local authorities.
The ceremony began with a performance by the group Percumanía. Afterwards the ceremony presenters, Mayte Castro and Domingo Álvarez arrived on stage
Then the Tenerife athletic teams paraded past: Areté, Atletas 97, Atléticod, Trotamundos de Candelaria, Bolico-Buenavista, Tenerife, Santa Cruz, Puerto Cruz Realejos, Tasaigo, Tegueste, Arona, Atalaya, Tacoronte, Guradén, Puerto Cruz Guepardo, Trivalle Guímar, Zanata El Sauzal, Aguere, Clator-Orotava, Veteranos de Tenerife, La Manzanilla, CEAT, Sprinters, Colegio Nuriana and Corredores Casa Fito Chimiche.
Also the twelve teams which participated in the I National Tenerife CajaCanarias Athletics Meet paraded: Puma Chapín Jerez, FC Barcelona, Playas de Castellón, AD Maratón Madrid, Playas de Jandía, CAI Gran Canaria, Tenerife CajaCanarias and a selection from Tenerife.
The international Tenerife Athletes: Mario Pestano, Iván Ramallo, Tere Linares, Germán Millán, Basilio Labrador and Pedro Delgado, carried the Royal Spanish Athletic Federation flag and behind them Miguel Velázquez, Cristo Marrero, Iván Rodríguez, José Ángel Méndez, Raquel de Ana and Óliver Déniz carried the Tenerife flag.
To follow, the regional, island and local authorities walked onto the field: The President of the Canarian Government, Adán Martín; The Government Delegate, José Segura; The President of the Inter-Island Council, Ricardo Melchior, The Councilor of Sports, Dámaso Arteaga; The Mayor of Santa Cruz, Miguel Zerolo; The Director General of Sport Infrastructures of the Council of Sports, Inmaculada Martín-Caro; the President of the Spanish Athletics Federation, José María Odriozola, and the Presidents of the Canarian Federations, Luis Domínguez and Tenerife, Andrés Torres, as well as the General Director of CajaCanarias, Álvaro Arbelo.
The Capital’s Mayor, Miguel Zerolo, stated that “it is a very important day and I am proud to inaugurate this Center. It was a must for Santa Cruz. We obtained the land, the agreement with the Inter-island Council and now it is an enormous satisfaction for everyone. These facilities shall be the neurological center for island and regional athletics. We want to sign an agreement with the Inter-island Council, the General Direction for Sports and the Federations to get the most out of these facilities”.
José María Odriozola stated that “it is a happy day for Tenerife and Spanish Athletics. When Bermúdez and Torres came to see me at the Federation and presented their plans for Tenerife Athletics, I didn’t believe them, and today they have come true. It is a stadium of outstanding architectural beauty as well as being functional; having a High-Performance center which I’m sure will reap rewards for island and national athletics in the future”. Odriozola highlighted “as well as this very important event, the school finals next Tuesday, where more than 2,000 youngsters from all the Tenerife athletics schools, shall compete. All the promotion for sport for young people will be paid back with a profit to society”.
José Segura congratulated the architects and all the companies which had worked on the Project as well as the athletes and clubs which shall have fantastic installations. “This is an example that the collaboration of distinct Public Administrations always gives positive results. The Island Center had an investment of €15.8 million. The Inter-island Council must feel proud of this Center at the hands of the Santa Cruz Town Hall. To all who shall use the premises and the youngsters who shall practise this sport which will surely offer an enormous social benefit to those youngsters who are attracted to athletics.” He also congratulated, those present, on behalf of the State Secretary for Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky, who was unable to attend the ceremony.
The President of the Inter-island Council, Ricardo Melchior, had a special mention for all those pioneers of Tenerife athletics who had made a praiseworthy effort, such as Miguel Feria, Juan Ruano, and current athletes. All those who stood out thanks to their hard work and who had placed Tenerife in the elite, not only nationally but internationally and who shall stand out even more strongly with this new Sports Center. “Thanks to all those who have done their bit in this project: José Bermúdez, Dámaso Arteaga, CajaCanarias, Sports Council, the Canarian Government, José María Odriozola, the Canarian and Tenerife Federations, with the efforts of Andrés Torres. This is the summit of a bet placed by the Inter-island Council for athletics. We shall start a period even more brilliant than the one we currently have”.
Finally, Adán Martín, showed his appreciation for “the effort offered by al the institutions so that these installations would go ahead, and remembered the effort of the Neighbour’s Association of the El Rosario Industrial Estate, who had dreamt with improving their district and that this dream had come true. 23 years ago ‘Santa Cruz to Live’ was born, with ideas like Plaza de España, now under Works, the Auditorium, The Congress and Fair Center, and the only thing lacking to all this was the Olympic Stadium, which is now a reality”.
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