There was a time when parts of Costa del Silencio and the old Ten-Bel resort in Arona had become badly neglected.
Overgrown areas, rubbish, graffiti and forgotten public spaces had left some parts of the neighbourhood looking rather sorry for themselves.
So a group of local residents decided to do something about it.
It started with three people
The story began in September 2020, when Belgian resident Hannelore Ottevaere put a call out on Facebook asking for volunteers to help clean up a neglected area close to the Chayofita urbanisation.
Three people turned up.
Not exactly a massive workforce, but it was enough to get things moving.
More residents joined the following clean-up sessions and what started as a small local effort gradually grew into something much bigger.
Today, Costa del Silencio Limpio is a formal association with around 50 volunteers, regularly working around the neighbourhood.
From neglected spaces to community projects
The volunteers now carry out clean-ups two or three times a week, tackling everything from weeds and rubbish to graffiti.
One of their main targets has been Parque Damon, an area that had suffered years of neglect and was even nicknamed “the Chernobyl of Tenerife”.
It’s a rather brutal description, but it gives you an idea of how bad things had become.
The volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities, all giving their time to improve the place they call home.
And Tenerife’s weather doesn’t always make the job particularly easy. Rain, heat and everything in between haven’t stopped them.
More than just picking up rubbish
The group has also come up with some more creative ways of improving the area.
One is a palm tree adoption scheme, helping raise money towards the maintenance of the trees.
There’s also an outdoor library, where residents can leave and exchange books, as well as dispensers providing bags for dog waste.
Perhaps one of the nicest aspects of the project is that everyone brings something different.
Volunteer Olga Lvova, for example, has used her design skills to help restore murals around the area, adding some colour back to spaces that had become rather bleak.
Reclaiming the neighbourhood
There is still plenty of work to do.
The volunteers aren’t pretending that a few clean-up sessions are going to magically fix every neglected corner of Costa del Silencio. But they have already made a noticeable difference.
As Ottevaere puts it, the group originally started out simply wanting to tidy things up.
Now, she says, they feel they are “truly reclaiming our neighbourhood together.”
And that’s probably the important bit.
Ten-Bel and Costa del Silencio aren’t just holiday accommodation and apartment blocks. They’re home to people from all over the world who have chosen to live there.
For the volunteers of Costa del Silencio Limpio, keeping the area clean and welcoming has become a community effort.
One rubbish bag, palm tree and restored mural at a time.