Until the end of the 19th century, the residents of Igueste of San Andres They did not have a cemetery in which to bury their dead. The deceased had to be transferred to the neighboring town of San Andrés to receive burial. With the construction of the Santa Rosalia Cemetery a solution was given to the neighbors, but it did not simplify the transfer of the deceased.
And it is that, the one in Igueste de San Andrés is the only cemetery in the Canary Islands, and perhaps in Spain, in which, even today, the deceased arrives on shoulders for a journey of about 500 linear meters, climbing several sections of stairs, which run from the Plaza de San Pedro, where the wake is located. Also the relatives of these deceased, with an increasingly larger population, must access this steep path to maintain the tombs and niches.
These data are collected by the socialist councilor Florentino Guzmán in the motion that he will present to the next plenary session of the Santa Cruz City Hallwhere he requests that all the necessary steps be taken so that this cemetery has a vehicle access.
Guzmán details that the nucleus of Igueste lacks parking spaces and places where its neighbors can park their vehicles. “This means that big problems are created in summer when numbers of bathers and surfers come to the area,” he says.
For this reason, “the construction of said road access would entail not only giving access to the cemetery and making its expansion possible, it would also provide the neighborhood with new and much-needed parking spaces.”
The mayor recalls that “about 20 years ago the first section of said access was executed, which was at the height of the Church. An incomplete and narrow road that did not solve or create parking spaces, but rather caused problems due to its narrowness, and that does not have retaining walls that hold the land of the nearby slopes”.
The mayor acknowledges that this is not the first time that this action has been requested in Igueste, since it is a historical demand from the residents and that has never been resolved by the Santa Cruz City Council. “That is why it is urgent to cover the need to have vehicle access to the Igueste cemetery and that it have all the necessary characteristics to improve the nucleus itself”, he points out.
In addition, the cemetery requires urgent expansion, since it is almost full and without free niches. The associations in the area have requested on more than one occasion that this second phase of the work and the expansion be addressed, since they do not want to have to bury their dead in the Santa Lastenia cemetery. According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), in 2021, Igueste de San Andrés had 515 inhabitants.
The motion of the socialist councilor concludes by listing five agreements that will be put to the vote. The first is to “proceed with the acquisition of the land necessary for the future section and the widening of the current road.”
The second points to the “drafting of the work project that includes the total execution of the access and that it contemplates parking areas for the neighborhood.”
Thirdly, it is requested that “the project be carried out taking into account the environmental characteristics of the area”, as it is located within the Anaga Biosphere Reserve.
The fourth point details “that the opinion and contributions of the neighbors be taken into account” in the possible project that is developed.
And, finally, “that said study work, acquisition of the land and drafting of the project be carried out in the next financial year 2023”, as a formula to prevent this situation from continuing over time.
History
As is tradition, the Igueste de San Andrés cemetery bears the name of the first person to be buried in the cemetery. In this case it was the neighbor of Igueste, Rosalía López, who died in 1893 victim of the cholera epidemic that affected Santa Cruz at that time. The cemetery was built before the parish of San Pedro, which dates from 1908, precisely to respond to the high number of deaths from the epidemic. An infrastructure that next year will therefore be 130 years old.
The cemetery stands on a rectangular plot and, although small, it has the necessary facilities to host a funeral service.
Its entire perimeter is surrounded by a whitewashed wall and its entrance is through a simple iron door with two dragon trees on each side. The most demanded form of burial in this enclosure are the burials carried out directly on the ground. Its ornamentation is simple. The interior vegetation also has prominence because it blends with the exterior landscape.
