The Cabildo de Tenerife has inaugurated this Friday the Cañada Blanca Visitor Centerin the Teide National Park, a facility that had been closed since 2007 and that renews the interpretive offer of the park, complementing the other center located in Portillo de la Villa and the Juan Évora Site Museum in Bocatauce.
The president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín, indicated that this visitor center wants to convey “to those who come here, whether they are residents or come from outside, that the National Park, in addition to a wonderful postcard, contains a high and delicate value from the natural point of view”, and added that if they wanted to “preserve it” they must know it and the center must be a “pedagogical exhibition”.
According to Martín, “the objective of this center is to transfer the scientific, natural and historical value of the park, of how it was created, of the uses and exploitation that have been given to it throughout history, and from the of natural view and research.
Likewise, he was “convinced” that it will be one of the most visited interpretive centers in Spain and its opening marks “only the beginning” of other centers that want to start up in the entrance areas of the Protected Natural Area so that visitors ” know the values of the National Park and that they can take away more knowledge and the feeling of protection of such a delicate environment”.
The Councilor for Management of the Natural Environment and Security of the Cabildo, Isabel García, pointed out that “above all, the value of the conservation of this space is due to the people who carry out their work in it, from the park management office , its engineers and biologists to the staff that improves trails and signage, without a doubt, without them nothing would be as it is”.
García recalled that the inauguration of this center “is also a tribute to all the workers on Teide, because their responsibility affects the enjoyment of this treasure of nature”, and concluded by assuring that they wanted to reflect “all this, the history and the future of the Teide National Park, a heritage of all humanity, entrusted to the care of this generation, in this time that has had to live, so that it can be enjoyed by future generations”.
The mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares, indicated that Teide “is part of the idiosyncrasy of the villeros of the upper area who cared for and pampered the park for ages”, and expressed his satisfaction at the opening “of a center that had been years closed, and that it is a tourist and educational resource”.
The Cañada Blanca Visitor Center in figures
Located in the heart of the Teide National Park, and very close to the emblematic Roques de García complex, the Cañada Blanca Visitor Center, adjacent to the Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide building, reopens its doors to the public to offer visitors , in an area of about 1,000 square meters, an exhibition that deals with the human presence in the summits of Tenerife.
This center was inaugurated for the first time in 1997 and was operational until 2007, when it was closed to carry out some improvement works.
These interventions generated major delays and stoppages due to problems with the contracts, structural problems, waterproofing problems and changes in building regulations and facilities.
Distributed on two levels connected by large ramps, the exhibition inside the Cañada Blanca Visitor Center is structured around four large thematic blocks: life on the summits and human occupation since prehistoric times; the history of science in the national park and the first scientific expeditions; astronomical and atmospheric research, where scenes of the night sky will be shown and, finally, geological and volcanological research carried up to the present day.
In addition, the center has a semi-buried auditorium room of 344 square meters where a new audiovisual production will be broadcast that highlights the landscape of the national park.
