The environmental organisation Atan has prevailed on Tenerife in its opposition to the Formula 1 circuit. For the time being at least, the activists have once again managed to halt construction. Administrative Court No. 4 in Tenerife’s capital, Santa Cruz, upheld the appeal. As a result, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) required for the construction was declared null and void.
Plans for the international motor racing park on Tenerife have been under discussion since 1990. Thirty-five years after the project was launched, ground-levelling work has finally begun. The plan envisaged one of the very few race tracks in the world to be driven anti-clockwise. However, that is not going to happen for the time being.
Large-scale construction projects in Spain require an environmental impact assessment. This process is widely dreaded, as the regulations are strict and the waiting times are long. It was therefore particularly important for the developers to be able to use the existing assessment. However, following a notification from the authorities that the EIA had expired in 2021, Atan brought a legal action. The court has now upheld the claim. As a result, the construction project has come to a standstill.
Racetrack on Tenerife halted for the time being
Whilst the Island Council and the developers only began implementation in September and were quietly celebrating the launch after 35 years of planning, the multi-million project has now suffered its next setback.
The latest ruling overturns the decision taken by the Tenerife Island Council’s Department of Roads, Mobility, Innovation and Culture. This means that the dream of having Tenerife’s own motor racing circuit has once again been put on hold.
It was only on 27 December last year that Tenerife’s Island Council had allocated a sum of 13.33 million euros in the 2025 budget for the construction of the race track.
Tenerife’s dream of Formula 1 halted once again
In addition to the environmental impact assessment from 2011 having expired, the campaigners were able to celebrate further successes: three out of four court rulings went in favour of the campaign group. Among other things, the court accepted the argument that the construction project breached the law on the catalogue of protected species in the Canary Islands.
The ruling has therefore once again thrown the Tenerife circuit into turmoil. According to the plans, the circuit – with its 16 bends and an 800-metre straight – will stretch over four kilometres. It is to be built to accommodate the highest classes of motorsport. No licence has yet been applied for regarding MotoGP for motorbikes or Formula 1 for cars.
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