The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage has ordered this Friday the total suspension of the works carried out in the Little port of Adeje, that correspond to the tourist urbanization of Cuna del Almabefore the discovery of new rock art in the area.
For this reason, and taking into account the completion of the precautionary measures adopted by the Cabildo de Tenerife, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, in accordance with the Canary Islands Cultural Heritage Law, has ordered the total suspension of works with the adoption of new precautionary measures for a period of six months.
The Government of the Canary Islands 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 in it that could become irreversible, has indicated the General Directorate in a statement.
Only those actions strictly related to the protection of the patrimonial assets found, as well as any other element or area with patrimonial value, may be carried out, and these specific incursions must be carried out under the supervision of specialized technical personnel.
In this regard, Cultural Heritage recalls that on May 31 the Tenerife Council adopted precautionary measures and issued a report describing very serious violations.
The High Inspectorate of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage visited the area on July 12 to verify the facts and assess the damage caused by the works carried out by the promoter company Segunda Casa Adeje SL.
During the visit, the condition of the site that has great potential (PA4) was corroborated, where a part of the structure has been leveled and the surface material is not 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 begins, 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 Inspectorate, are all assets that were not included in the study commissioned by the company. .
In addition, the sites found that house rock art are declared with the category of archaeological zones in accordance with article 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.
