The president of the Botín Foundation, Emilio Botín, accompanied by the presidents of Cantabria, Ignacio Diego, and the port, José Joaquín Martínez Sieso, and the mayor of Santander, Íñigo de la Serna, inaugurated the remodeling of the gardens of Pereda.
The project for expanding and improvement of the gardens of Pereda, developed by the landscaper Fernando Caruncho in collaboration with the study of Renzo Piano, has doubled the extension of the gardens of 20,000 square meters to about 48,000 and tripled its green surface, passing from 7.003 to 20,056 square meters.
This intervention, initiated in August 2013, retains the memory of the place respecting its essential milestones and allows the walker to enjoy unpublished views and routes, leading him directly from the Historic Center of Santander to the Bay.
This prolongation of the city center to the sea has been possible thanks to the cancellation of the old road that ran in front of the gardens and the suppression of the traffic that, for a month, was channeled by means of a new tunnel, 219 meters from length, which allows the passage of more than thirteen millions of vehicles per year.
The land where the future Botín Center will be located, as well as those of the tunnel and those that have served to expand the Pereda gardens have been assigned by the port of Santander, and are part of the port spaces that have been destined to the development of the city through actions such as these, or as the recovery of the entire area of Gamazo, San Martín, Marqués de la Hermida or the Varadero area.
Collaboration between institutions
During the inauguration of the gardens the interveners highlighted the collaboration between the institutions to make all these projects possible. Thus, Emilio Botín referred to the set of actions around the Botín Center pointing out that it is a model of faithful and effective collaboration between public administrations, private institutions and society as a whole.
In similar terms, José Joaquín Martínez Sieso expressed himself, who also described the collaboration between institutions as a model, while stressing that these gardens will be a sign of transformation of the city and place for the enjoyment of neighbors and visitors.
The president of the Port Authority also showed the contribution of the port to the development of the city through these and other projects.
The mayor for his part described the remodeling of the Pereda gardens as the symbol of the new Santander, which, he added, is now projected to the Bay.
The interventions ended the president of the Government of Cantabria, who valued the importance of this moment for the city, which supposes, said, progress, progress and growth in quality.