The Teide cable car inaugurated this Tuesday the exhibition “Teide Legend: science and legend”, which explains the use that the first settlers of the island, the Guanches, made of the resources of the volcano and its environment, an experience that seeks to increase the tourist attraction of an enclave full of stories wrapped in the mist of the sea of clouds that surrounds it.
This new cultural and leisure proposal has been possible thanks to the collaboration and scientific advice of the Museum of Nature and Archeology (MUNA) of Tenerife and the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcán) and has information panels, a replica of a mummy Guanche, explanatory videos and the exhibition of an animated short film that narrates the Guanche legend of Guayota.
According to oral tradition dating back to pre-Hispanic times, the devil Guayota kidnapped Magec, the sun, turning the earth into a dark place.
The Guanches, desperate at the situation, turned to their god Achamán, who after defeating the devil locked him inside the Echeyde volcano, Teide, where he is trapped waiting for his moment to threaten the world again.
The story has been adapted with a comic aesthetic through a joint work between the chicharrero illustrator Luis Suárez and the Canarian heritage expert María Mengual, all located in a room that recreates the interior of a volcanic tube at the base of the cable car. of Teide.
Representatives from different institutions on the island attended the inauguration, led by the Minister of Natural Environment and Sustainability of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Blanca Pérez, who pointed out that this is an “attractive project with a modern feel” that helps “to promote and improve the visit” of the National Park, since “it makes known the volcanic origin of the island and the legends and history of the Canary Islands.”
For his part, the head of business development at Volcano Teide, Joan Rodríguez, has highlighted the two aspects that make up this exhibition: “science and legend.”
“What we are trying to do is unite two different perspectives of the same phenomenon, the volcanic eruption that occurred about a thousand years ago and that formed the Teide pylon, the peak. On the one hand we have the vision of how the Guanches could have seen it through the legend of Guayota, and on the other hand how science sees and understands it,” Rodríguez pointed out.
The exhibition is now available to visitors who come to the vicinity of the Teide National Park from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and, as explained by those responsible, it will be open even on days when weather conditions do not allow access. to the top of the volcano.
