One in 10 works were deserted on the islands in 2023 due to “unreal” tender prices

Last year 2023, a total of 183 public works for an amount of 93.4 million euros were left deserted on the islands due to the impossibility of builders to undertake them without losing money. These figures represent 10% of the total works for the year, a percentage that triples the 3% abandonment recorded at the national level. In addition, many businessmen with contracts in execution are abandoning the works to stop a drain that threatens their own survival.

From 2021when construction materials began to become more expensive and costs skyrocketed, and until 2023 they have remained unbidden in the Canary Islands nearly 500 works worth almost 230 million euros. In 2021 there were 77 works that were left in the air for 24 million; In 2022 there were 216 for an amount of 112.4 million (a record figure) and in 2023 there were, as previously noted, 183 works for 93.4 million.

All administrations are looking the other way faced with the obligation to review prices and adjust tenders to the reality of the market, but they are the town councils that take the cake: Almost half of the works that have been left undone in the last three years in the Canary Islands were put out to tender by the municipalities and for an amount of almost 103 million. Next are the councils, with 71 works with a value of 38.4 million and the Government of the Canary Islands, with 34.2 million pending for 69 works. In the case of the State, the tenders that have been ‘hanging’ amount to 61 for an amount of 34.7 million.

“The trend of recent years persists,” says the president of the Association of Construction Entrepreneurs and Developers (AECP), María de la Salud Gil, which describes it as “very serious” that public administrations continue to tender for works below market prices “knowing” that they will not succeed. «They do it to see if a naive or irresponsible person falls, there are some, who do the first certification, bill 20% and leave the work half done,” says Salud Gil. So to the problem of deserted works we must add those that remain ‘half-finished’.

The president of the builders denounces the existence of “virtual auctions” who come to the islands to “get some billing” and then abandon the works, as has happened in some Metroguagua contracts. In this sense, he points out that when this situation occurs, the administration must begin the entire process to put them back on the market. «It is a problem that affects us all because they are health, educational, conservation, and hydraulic works that are not at the service of the citizen and that are not in the market or generating employment.. “The administration technicians know the prices of the materials, so why do they bid below the value?” asks Salud Gil.

Material prices have fallen slightly in the last year but are still well above the pre-covid year. Thus, copper is today 63% more expensive, and aluminum, 57%. “We have businessmen who have sent several letters to the administration that affects them requesting a price review but they don’t even respond,” says Salud Gil.