The Guanche necropolis of El Becerril, between the lagoon neighborhoods of Salud Alto, El Rocío and La Candelaria, will be the object of new prospecting and excavations, both by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Department of Heritage itself. Historic of La Laguna, to assess if there are still archaeological remains to be discovered.
This was announced yesterday by the councilor for the area, Elvira Jorge, during the presentation of the preliminary project for the future Interpretation Center of this enclave, planned on a municipal plot of about 1,000 square meters and with an estimated budget of three million euros. Document that the mayor unveiled together with its editor-in-chief, Joaquín Galera.
This center will be built on a municipal plot near the area of heritage interest, it will have about a thousand square meters distributed in four floors, three below ground, and will have exhibition spaces and also for complementary services, such as a cafeteria with terrace and viewpoint, a store , an assembly hall, a panoramic elevator or a roof with photovoltaic plates.
An action “that will value the archaeological heritage, which in this area has become invisible. Nobody remembered that such an important site was discovered there, we cannot let our culture and history die from an archaeological point of view. We are not going to let the cement continue to make it invisible ”, said the councilor.
Joaquín Galera explained that the next step will be the drafting of the basic project and execution of the center, which the Governing Board recently approved to commission Gesplan for almost 71,000 euros. The architect pointed out that “we hope that next year around this time we can start the works.”
“It will be the first building dedicated to Guanche culture,” he valued and, in addition, it will help to “energize” economic activity in the area.
BIC statement
Meanwhile, the area continues with other works that are part of the project, such as the file for the declaration as BIC of this space. In this regard, from the Cabildo “they have recently told us that a priori it gathers quite a few values, that at the time everything that was found was taken to the MUNA, but they urgently recommended that intensive and systematic surveys be carried out and that it be seen what it can stay there and based on that it can be declared BIC in the category of archaeological site or cultural landscape ”, indicated the mayor.
Prospects that the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands will start shortly within the project of Cuevas Colgadas, as well as the Lagunera Department of Historical Heritage, with municipal funds and in coordination with the Executive.
In addition, contacts are being maintained with the inhabitants of the area who have animals occupying some of the caves, who are showing “a good predisposition to relocate the animals” in nearby areas, Galera pointed out, although more formal meetings still need to be held to collect and assess their demands.
Also “we are raising the possible recovery of an old dam that exists,” added the architect, and studying the utilities for a nearby municipal water reservoir with a very large area, “from photovoltaic panels, to a mural, a garden. . ”, Stated Joaquín Galera.
As well as other tasks such as the conditioning of the trails, cleaning the environment, studying some formula to facilitate vehicular access to the area or the aesthetic treatment of the town there, through the integration of the facades in the environment, and improving your security.
The enclave is a great discovery, carried out by Luis Diego Cuscoy in 1944 and 1945, due to the amount of skeletal remains of the aboriginal population that were found.
