Amara M. Florido Castro (Telde, Gran Canaria, 1967), PhD in Art History from the Ulpgc, has dedicated recent years to the study and dissemination of the historical industrial heritage of the Archipelago. Since 2009 she undertakes, for the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands, the inventories of the Islands. She has already completed those in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro and Tenerife.
How and when did the project to inventory the industrial heritage of the Canary Islands begin and at what stage is it?
The alarming state of conservation of the industrial legacy on the islands motivated the General Directorate to undertake the inventory work of these movable and immovable property in 2009. The main objective is to urgently address the cataloging of the material remains linked to the different production and manufacturing activities, and dated from the end of the 19th century to the 1960s. Inventories of five have already been completed with very positive results.
1,018 goods related to his most recent work on the industrial heritage of Tenerife. Are they all that are?
Field work is the most important part and involves direct contact with industrialists, businessmen, former manufacturers, collectors, etc. A significant volume of assets in private hands. While the attitude of these people has generally been very receptive, it can also happen that some are wary of showing part of their industrial heritage. But they are the rarest cases.
Tenerife preserves an industrial heritage “as rich as it is unknown, little valued, neglected and despised”. The phrase is yours.
It could also summarize the situation of the rest of the Islands. I would even add: fragile, underappreciated, misunderstood and, as a consequence of all this, extremely threatened. Industrial heritage is the great unknown in the Canary Islands, it is the youngest of all heritages, because it has been used until relatively recently. Most of the population does not consider it worthy of being recovered and valued as it is far from the traditional concept. For many years, the old factories are perceived as a hindrance, an obstacle to progress and a goal to be eliminated, destroying the memory of the place, the memory of work. To this we must add the absence of protection instruments, the apathy and passivity of society and the relentless attitude of the real estate market. The same has happened with the mechanical equipment, gadgets and tools used that become obsolete due to technological advances. Once they lose their function, they are destroyed or pushed into the uttermost oblivion. Finally, the fact that it is a heritage rooted in society can carry negative connotations, associated with the memory of episodes of effort and daily struggle at work, pollution and inconvenience generated by certain activities.
What characteristic values would you say the industrial heritage of Tenerife has?
The heterogeneity of the productive sectors that have been established on the Island during the period studied is striking. For the most part they were local, family-based industries dedicated to supplying the demand of the residents of the neighborhood or the municipality. Atomized, domestic and urban industry that coexists with other transformation activities of special importance, which require their own spaces and architectures, an example of which is the refinery.
What is the general state of conservation?
The high level of destruction is worrying due to the absence of a patrimonial conscience towards the value of these elements. Fortunately, awareness of this unknown heritage is growing and awareness on the part of local and regional administrations gradually crystallizes in the conservation and profitability of industrial historical heritage due to its high testimonial value. A heritage with extraordinary potential. The El Tanque Cultural Space stands out for its peculiarity, opened to the public in 1997 and testimony to the industrial memory of the city. I cannot forget the commendable work of the Correíllo La Palma Foundation in the rescue and rehabilitation of the centenary ship.
What have you found, for example, when approaching the analysis of the graphic arts?
The arrival of digital technology caused the progressive closure of most of the companies in the sector. A separate example is Litografía Romero, today the typographic industry with the greatest historical industrial relevance on the Island, founded in 1880 by Ángel Romero. In the chapter on written press, the only two newspapers in Tenerife that have kept their printing presses working at full capacity are Diario de Avisos and El Día. an Italian-made linotype acquired in 1967.
Do you understand these vestiges as a past to protect and preserve from the institutional and the popular?
Of course. Inventories constitute a useful tool that allows us to know the magnitude, value and current state of the historical industrial heritage inherited from our ancestors. Thanks to these investigations, recognition and visibility have been given to assets until now forgotten, and with little presence in the cultural panorama, integrating them into heritage policies.
Is it necessary to raise awareness in society to value industrial heritage?
The main problem in the conservation of the heritage derived from the industry is the absence or lack of a heritage awareness. As always, what is not known is not valued. The goods that make it up have an extraordinary social value, as signs of identity of a community and its workers. To this is added the technological and scientific value in the history of production, engineering and construction. Without forgetting the aesthetic value, as they are constructions that offer a peculiar quality and design.
Would a museum of the industrial heritage of Tenerife and the Canary Islands be feasible?
It would not only be feasible, but very necessary. During the field work, I was able to realize how much machinery, motors, tools, artifacts or utensils used in the manufacturing processes are in serious danger of disappearing. They make up the most vulnerable piece of movable cultural heritage, especially when they lose the function for which they were installed. The affection towards these memories can be seen in danger by future generations, who are not aware of their historical, technical and scientific value. Hence the need to have a Museum of Industry in the Canary Islands, as a reference center.
There are better known tracks and others less. Evaluate the ones that most caught your attention in the work on Tenerife.
One of the most impressive is the La Gordejuela pumping station, on the coast of Los Realejos, an imposing structure considered among the most beautiful ruins on the planet; the Pozo de la Viuda de Machado designs a time capsule in the heart of Puerto de la Cruz; and the world of wine makes up one of the sectors that define the foundations of Tenerife’s industrial heritage. The solidity of the beam and screw presses stands out and, in particular, the hydraulic press that one of the Chivisaya wineries, in Candelaria, conserves. A museum piece.
