Conflict of Interest Allegations Cloud Tenerife’s Underwater Gardens Project
The citizen platform Salvar Punta Blanca (Save Punta Blanca) has publicly denounced a conflict of interest in the Underwater Gardens tourist project, slated for construction on the unspoiled west coast of Tenerife (in the municipality of Guía de Isora). The development is planned within a designated whale sanctuary, an area currently free from tourist infrastructure. This themed park aims to allow diving tourists to explore the island’s seabed, which would involve constructing buildings on land—occupying up to 10 hectares, partly on rustic land with environmental protection—and making interventions along the coastline.
A Scientific Veneer for a Tourist Venture?
Simultaneously, the project is being promoted as having scientific interest for the European organization Ocean Citizen. This creates a scenario where two projects coexist in the same area: one scientific and one tourist, with the scientific part being used to endorse the tourist venture. However, according to the organizations ATAN and the Salvar Punta Blanca platform, the person championing the project’s scientific merit at the European level through Ocean Citizen is the same individual behind its commercial exploitation via the Underwater Gardens theme park.
Formal Complaint to European Consortium
ATAN and Salvar Punta Blanca explain that they recently sent a formal letter to all members of the Ocean Citizen European project consortium expressing their “deep concern about the misuse of the name and resources” of this EU initiative to legitimize the Underwater Gardens mega-project in Tenerife. The organizations stated in the letter that this project “violates fundamental principles of the Horizon Europe program,” such as the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle, and alerted them to the direct involvement of “consortium actors in the promotion of speculative infrastructures.”
Denials and Clarifications
In recent days, the coordinator of Ocean Citizen, Sergio Rossi, has denied this link, attempting to separate the scientific project from the proposal to build the Underwater Gardens tourist complex. However, Salvar Punta Blanca has clarified several points “that the public deserves to know.” Firstly, they emphasize that the project is confirmed to be EU-funded research within Horizon Europe. Therefore, “it is worrying that a publicly funded research project could be used to provide scientific endorsement and greenwashing for a private, for-profit initiative like a diving theme park.”
The Heart of the Conflict
Secondly, the denial letter was signed by Sergio Rossi, who not only coordinates Ocean Citizen as an associate professor at the University of Salento (Italy) but is simultaneously the scientific director of the company promoting the theme park, Underwater Gardens International S.L. In other words, “the same person represents both a publicly funded research consortium and the company that wants to build a tourist mega-complex in Punta Blanca, all in the same location,” the organizations alert. They state, “This dual role raises serious doubts about the legitimacy, independence, and credibility of his statements, in addition to demonstrating a lack of professional ethics and a clear conflict of interest.”
Questioning the “Zero Tourism” Narrative
The promoters of Underwater Gardens have tried to justify its construction by claiming that the Canary Islands need to attract tourism post-pandemic, according to the Tenerife Island Council’s declaration of insular interest file. However, “the reality is that tourism on the islands has already recovered and even surpassed pre-2020 numbers: from 15 million visitors in 2019, forecasts for 2025 point to a new record of 18.4 million tourists. There is, therefore, no economic need that supports the construction of a new theme park in a virgin natural space.”
Lack of Genuine Dialogue with the Local Community
While Rossi’s letter defends “respect,” “open dialogue,” and “transparent processes,” the complaining platforms state that the reality is different. Ocean Citizen “has held only two public presentations of the project, one virtual and one in-person, which reached only a few dozen people and, evidently, did not discuss the link with the Underwater Gardens theme park in Punta Blanca. Proclaiming transparency is not enough: it must be practiced.” Furthermore, they add, “Underwater Gardens has played at sponsoring activities and offering sea access advantages to some people to try to gain local approval, something it has not achieved—this platform that opposes and confronts it is clear proof of that.”
A Call for Real Conservation
The organizations also warn that this is not the first time an “iconic wave, a public and natural space in Tenerife, has been destroyed for the benefit of a tourist project, as already happened with some of the waves of Las Américas.” They propose, “Tenerife and the Canary Islands do not need more tourists, and there is certainly no need for diving tourists to come and save Punta Blanca. What we need are Marine Reserves and for the enforcement of existing protections for the area to be monitored and properly resourced.”
Greenwashing and Public Funds
ATAN and Salvar Punta Blanca opine that “pretending to regenerate an area without eliminating the causes of degradation is not just greenwashing; it is a waste of public funds that, if the local social fabric were consulted, would be much better invested.”
A Stance Against “Extractivist” Initiatives
Finally, Salvar Punta Blanca expresses its “profound exhaustion with these extractivist initiatives that crush our coasts, our island, and the few places we have left to enjoy free from tourism. Let it be clear: We are going all out against this absurdity: through the media, through legal channels, and by protesting on-site if they ever dare to start work.”
