Santa Cruz de Tenerife (223.148 citizens (2011)), is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Canary Islands. Region of strategic importance for Spain, due to its geographical position since it constitutes an interconnection gate between Africa and Latin-American. The strategic plan of the city pursues to transform Santa Cruz into a sustainable and economically active city for its people with the use of new, efficient and user-friendly technologies and services in the areas of energy, transport and ICT. In addition, Santa Cruz de Tenerife has the determination to become an internationally recognized hub of high standard of well living for professionals from all over the world, thanks to its high connectivity, great technological development and its well know quality of life.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife local authorities are committed in implementing a number of activities as part of the urban plans of the city that already exist (Urban Plan compiled for the Covenant of Mayors, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and others) and integrate buildings planning, energy networks, ICT, transport/mobility planning and other additional issues. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a member of Covenant of Mayors initiative and member of the Spanish Smart Cities Network.
Into the framework of these actions, the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife aims to:
- promote the use of RES
- promote energy savings measures
- promote the use of electrical vehicles
- incorporate ICT in energy efficiency monitoring systems
- create new jobs providing the employment market with well trained and specialized staff
- attract international employees related with ICTs to live and work remotely from the city
Until today, Santa Cruz de Tenerife has implemented and is planning to implement significant mobility projects that have already enhanced the quality of mobility in the city by means of investing in electrical tramlines powered by RES. Apart from this; the commitment of the city with ICT modernization is strong. Therefore, Santa Cruz de Tenerife can play a role as a committed partner of Lighthouse project (follower city) in order to implement innovative measures and actions that are fully in line with the political ambitions and strategies.