SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Cueva del Viento, the tourist resource of the Cabildo de Tenerife managed by the public company Ideco, has received visits from 5,371 people this summer, which represents 95.2% occupancy with respect to the total number of places offered.
The Minister of Culture and Museums of Tenerife, José Carlos Acha, especially valued the degree of customer satisfaction with the visit and, after carrying out 3,114 surveys, “the rating of the experience was 9.5, a score that encourages us to continue working in this line and commit to the quality of the service we offer to our clients.
José Carlos Acha explained that the fire declared last August in the mountains of Tenerife, which forced the temporary closure of the facility, also influenced the results of the visits to the cave since, as a consequence of the emergency situation, 405 places were no longer offered.
Between July and September, 376 guided routes were carried out in three languages, of which 242 were in Spanish, 76 in English and 46 in German, including visits by a total of 12 groups made up of students, journalists and tourists, coordinated in the latter. case by tour operators.
Acha also highlighted “the interest aroused by the visit not only among tourists who spend a few days on vacation in Tenerife but also among the local population, since approximately one in five clients are Canarian residents who come to discover the insides of one of the most impressive volcanic tubes in the world”.
The updating of the Self-Protection Plan, the carrying out of an accident simulation with the participation of personnel from different entities, the training of cave workers in first aid and use of radio stations, as well as the aesthetic improvement of the Visitor Center are some of the the actions carried out at the facility during the three summer months.
Located in the municipality of Icod de los Vinos, the Cueva del Viento is the longest volcanic tube in Europe and the sixth in the world. Originated by the flows of Pico Viejo, located next to Mount Teide, it was formed 27,000 years ago and its name is due to the important air currents that occur inside.
It is a unique place because its galleries extend into three superimposed levels, it has numerous branches still unexplored and presents a great variety of structures of primary origin such as lava drops, lava waterfalls, side terraces or lava lakes. In addition to its physical beauty, it has a high ecological, scientific and archaeological value, as it is home to unique species, such as the underground loboptera eyeless cockroach, and houses remains of Guanche burials and fossils of vertebrates already extinct on the Island such as the houbara or the giant rat and lizard.
The visit to the cave, which is made with prior reservation on the website www.cuevadelviento.nethas a price of 20 euros for adults and 8.50 for children over five years old, although for Canarian residents the price is reduced to 10 and 5 euros, respectively.
