The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of Canary Islands has communicated this Friday “in view of the recent findings of new rock art in the area that includes the unit of action of the works in the Little port of Adeje and taking into account the completion of the precautionary measures taken by the Council of Tenerife, orders according to art. 59.2 of the Canary Islands Cultural Heritage Law the total suspension of works with the adoption of new precautionary measures for a period of six months.”
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The Government of the Canary Islands, adds Patrimonio, “will carry out an in-depth archaeological study to avoid further deterioration of the archaeological sites located on this land and to prevent the production of damage to all the Canarian cultural heritage assets that are found on it.” that could become irreversible.
This department details that only those actions strictly related to the protection of the patrimonial assets found, as well as any other element or area with patrimonial value, can be carried out, and these specific incursions must be carried out under the supervision of specialized technical personnel.
It should be remembered that on May 31 the Island Council of Tenerife adopted the precautionary measures issuing a report in which the facts are described as “very serious”.
The High Inspectorate of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage visited on July 12 to verify the facts and assess the damage caused by the works carried out by the promoting company Segunda Casa Adeje SL, a visit in which the condition of the site that has great potential (PA4), where a part of the structure has been flattened and the surface material cannot be recognized due to the works carried out, leaving only part of it, and a cabin and two shelters and three rocks with engravings located in the immediate surroundings of the structures. The seriousness of the facts and the irreversible loss of ethnographic assets and archaeological sites constitute irreparable damage for which the sanctioning process by this Department is initiated, which is currently in process.
On November 7, 2022, the discovery of new engravings in the area comprising the action unit was reported. This communication, together with the other four sites whose information was provided by the Tegüico Association and another engraving located on the first visit made by the High Inspection, are all assets, which were not included in the study commissioned by the business. In addition, the sites found that house rock art are declared with the category of archaeological zones in accordance with art.87.2.a. This leads to rethinking the need to review and carry out a survey of the entire action unit again to avoid possible effects on what is on the surface.
Third stop order
The rejection of this tourism project (classified as “nonsense” or “outrageous” by Podemos Canarias and Nueva Canarias) that aims to develop more than 430,000 square meters together with two protected areas in the south of Tenerife has not been able to stop its progress. But Yes, the complaints filed by environmental groups have succeeded. leading the protests against the project. The first stoppage order came in June for having destroyed an archaeological site; the second, at the beginning of November due to “imminent environmental damage” as the presence of a protected plant that was not included in the environmental reports of the promoters was confirmed. The Ministry of Ecological Transition then opened a file since, in addition, it was found that the project, called Cuna del Alma, obtained the municipal license without having presented the mandatory environmental impact assessment. Now Ecological Transition has opened a disciplinary file for this circumstance.
In addition to these irregularities, the devastating report prepared by the Heritage technicians of the Cabildo de Tenerife (who visited the works in June after the first complaint) not only caused the first precautionary stoppage, but also confirmed that the project already had two negative reports : one from 2014 for not having made a report on archaeological remains in the area; and another in 2017, for not having taken protection measures for the remains found. The works also began without an archaeologist on site.
