«Breathe deeply, feel the silence and connect with what surrounds you». It is the slogan of the Casa Rural Las Vigas, a project by Pedro David Díaz Rodríguez and his family. It is located in the municipality of Aricospecifically in Floridaabout 650 meters above sea level and in an agricultural midland area, a location that provides the added bonus of wonderful views of the Fasnia and Arico coastline.
It not only offers accommodation, but also includes experiences so that clients enjoy their stay thanks to everything they have built in their environment. “We were clear that we could not offer only the accommodation part of the house, we had to give it an experiential touch,” says Rodríguez.
Pedro acquired the house twelve years ago and, months later, the land around the farm. «The house was completely in ruins. If we had not arrived, it would collapse, like most of the Canarian heritage». He assures that the bureaucratic process was enormous.
The first thing they did was remodel it, maintaining the main aesthetics. «We restore the house with absolute respect, otherwise it could not be considered rural tourism. What we did was reinforce the ceilings and give it a more modern facelift. In those days there was not even a bathroom, all those necessary services had to be adapted. It is still a rural house, but with the needs of today.
It is an old Canarian house of 120 square meters, built in the middle of the 19th century. The owners rehabilitated it and rigorously respected the style and typology of this area of the Island. For its reconstruction they used volcanic tuff characteristic of the “southern bands”, which is commonly known as tosca or jable.
The name of Casa Las Vigas corresponds to the place where it is located. Pedro Díaz specifies that «It takes us back to the time of logging in the mountains.to obtain the beams used in the construction of homes and buildings after the conquest of the Islands Canary Islands».
For all this, On July 31, Pedro David Díaz Rodríguez’s project received recognition for excellence from the Canary Islands Tourism Awards. The delivery ceremony will take place on Wednesday, at 8:00 p.m., in the Auditorium of the Tenerife Space of the Arts (TEA). «I am misplaced. On the one hand, happy, but at the same time I have the feeling that it is too much. We have achieved a very large share of prominence », he explains in this regard.
This distinction recognizes each year the work carried out by people, companies and institutions in the defense, promotion, innovation and improvement of the quality and sustainability of the destination. Díaz defines his property as “committed tourism” and highlights that Casa Las Vigas “shows rurality in an honest and proud way.”
Another key: wine
Besides, “We restore the winepress and the winery. There we do visits and some tastings». In the offer, The tourist finds differentiating elements, such as wine production. The farm on which the house sits has 15,000 square meters, in which the cultivation of the Listán Blanco grape variety predominates. From it Pedro obtains his Clarete de Las Vigas, the name given to his wine, the product in which he invests the most dedication and affection. «The road to obtaining a bottle is long. We do it all ourselvesfollowing the advice of our parents and grandparents, but applying new trends in conservation and analysis,” he explains.
The base is white grapes accompanied by a minimal presence of ink that “gives it that peculiar salmon color.” With floral aromas, it is slightly acidic and handcrafted. «Our memory of the harvest is much more than picking the grapes. It is a time to live with family and friends to share experiences, stories and, above all, learning,” he explains.
«We involve everyone who wants to experience the process. “They can help us with settling, harvesting, cleaning or fermentation control,” he says about the activities that interested clients can carry out.
Pedro defines a stay in Las Vigas as an opportunity for whoever wants to become “an ambassador of this part of the Island. It is an experience that, basically, means being there and enjoying everything that it entails.”
