The City Council of La Laguna will modify the current Municipal Protection Catalog in order to discontinue the rectory of the church of San Bartolomé de Tejina. The Councilor for Territorial Planning, Santiago Pérez, has issued an order to begin the minor modification procedure of the General Planning Plan (PGO) that will enable the future demolition of the property, popularly known as Casa del Cura, once it has been finished its delisting.
The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, explains that “this modification is the result of the neighborhood demands of the town of Tejina, which both through the Association of Las Tres Calles and the Tejina Citizen Platform, had been requesting for years that the City Council act in this sense. From the very moment of its construction, around 1928, great discontent was raised by the residents, since the rectory meant the loss of public space in the town square”.
During the processing of the current General Plan, the Las Tres Calles Neighborhood Association, in December 1998, stated that the square was becoming too small “due to the progressive growth of the constructions in its vicinity” not having space for expansion. In 2013, the neighborhood association itself raised the need to proceed with the discontinuation of the Casa del Cura in order to win that space for the public.
The delisting procedure is a consequence of a requirement raised by the Island Historical Heritage Directorate of the Island Council of Tenerife, which argues that said property is listed by the General Urban Planning Plan of La Laguna as a result of the declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest , with the category of Monument, of the church of San Bartolomé de Tejina according to decree 87/2006, of June 27, of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.
This declaration meant that the rectory was within the scope of protection of the church, therefore requiring a favorable report from the Directorate of Insular Historical Heritage for its demolition. Finally, the need has been determined for the City Council itself to initiate the minor modification of the Municipal Protection Catalog in order to discontinue the rectory, a step prior to the authorization of its demolition.
“The demolition of the parish house seems necessary for the correct conservation of the church, a property declared an Asset of Cultural Interest”, explains Santiago Pérez, “because the attachment of the house itself to the walls of the church façade has caused its deterioration. In addition, it would entail improving the visual perspective of the temple, helping the monument stand out within its protective environment, which is being deteriorated by a two-story house whose architectural style bears no relation to the church itself. And finally it would be possible to win the public space destined for the plaza”.
The councilor recalls that “when a property does not meet the necessary characteristics to be listed and, in addition, it is causing damage to the temple, which is the asset to be protected, the logical thing is that it does not have any type of protection.”
