By Domingo Medina.| The name of this street is linked to the construction of the then hermitage of San Juan (today, parish of San Bautista since 1963). Before its completion, which began to be built as a consequence of the sadly known plague that devastated La Laguna and other nearby towns between 1582-1583, this area, which only had a few homes, was already known as “the street that goes from the Plaza de los Remedios to the Negrón house (1566)”, or the “street that goes from the Plasa de los Remedios to the Negrón houses (1592)”, according to the data obtained in the notary offices. (Carlos Rodríguez Morales, Health on Earth).
It begins at the corner formed by Obispo Rey Redondo (La Carrera) and this street, and ends at the old esplanade of San Juan (today Pablo Iglesias). The name of San Juan has been maintained to this day since the end of the 16th century, with the exception of the year 1818, which was called Argelejo (Rodríguez Moure. Historical Guide of La Laguna). The current street sign says “San Juan Street, old Argelejo”, which is still an error, since this provisional or temporary name is Argelejo, in reference to the Count of Argelejo, head of the expedition to receive the old Guinea. Española, who died while traveling on November 14, 1768, cannot be considered the old street, since it was originally called Calle de San Juan.
CHANNELING OF THE OLD CHA MARTA RAVIO
Together with Núñez de la Peña, these two parallel streets expand the center of the City towards the oldest neighborhood of La Laguna. Above all, it is influenced by the channeling and urbanization of the Cha Marta ravine, creating a large urban space, where there were previously windmills, orchards, small homes, a cemetery and a hermitage.
At number 1 of the street, and since 1914, there is the oldest sweet shop and bread store in La Laguna, as is the well-known bakery that was opened by a woman from Cádiz called Doña Rafaela and later owned by her employee Pepe.
In this establishment the typical lagoon sweets, sweet potato rosquetes and trout and Christmas cakes, etc. are sold. The business is currently still run by Don José’s family in his third generation.
Opposite, on the corner of Obispo Rey Redondo, in 1921 Don Manuel Ramos opened a textile store called Almacenes Ramos, which later added sales services and a workshop where watches were repaired.
Before crossing Herradores, on this street that was always very commercial, you will find shops, pharmacies, bookstores, bazaars, etc. In the other sections, we also find cafes, restaurants, bars and other businesses, such as travel agencies, hairdressers and driving schools.
Where the San Juan bridge was, today 6 de Diciembre Street, on the left side, in an old house with an interior patio, the Nuryana School was installed in 1968 for the first time in La Laguna, which before moving permanently to the Camino de San Francisco de Paula, where it has been located since 1974, after a short period of time it moved to the town of Tejina. This charter school, one of the largest in the Laguna municipality, has more than 2,000 enrollments, and classes are taught from kindergarten to high school.
On the right side, we find the Plateros chapel from the 18th century, with traditional Canarian architecture, with a single square floor and a hipped roof with Arabic tiles, which opens its door on May 3, the festival of the Holy Cross.
In front of the chapel and until 2006, in the building on the corner of El Juego street, a gofio mill was in operation and in an adjacent premises, cereals and animal feed, owned by the Martín Mederos brothers, were sold; Don Esteban, who taught classes to the children of the San Juan neighborhood at the Unitary Public School number 1, and Don José, who tended the mill. Today, in this space, a modern residential building and a parking lot for public use of vehicles have been built.
THE FIRST BULL PLAZA IN THE CANARY ISLANDS
The first bullring that was built in the Canary Islands was in La Laguna, on a large piece of land that faced this street in San Juan, as shown in the topographical map of La Laguna, drawn up in 1885 and corrected in 1891, by the Ensign of the Canary Militias, Don Marcial M. Velázquez Curbelo.
The square occupied a space that bordered the then Cha Marta ravine and the San Juan esplanade. The bullfighting venue began to be built in 1889 and was inaugurated on September 13, 1891, on the occasion of the celebration of the Fiestas del Cristo de La Laguna that year.
The La Laguna bullring was built on the initiative of the La Laguna entrepreneur Garpar Darmanin y Contreras, who was also a councilor of the La Laguna City Council, director of the El Porvenir Casino and Senior Slave of the Slavery of the Holy Christ.
The trucks loaded with sweet cane entered the center of the City along the Tejina, Juan de Vera highway, until they reached their destination, which was the mill on San Juan Street, installed where the bullring and bullring once stood. in which Laguna Rum was made. As the trucks passed, the neighborhood kids tried to get a piece of sweet cane, many succeeded and others ended up with a cast on their arm at the San Juan de Dios Clinic.
San Juan street was always one of the busiest, through it you reached the hermitage of San Juan, the Vidriera de Canarias, the Tejar, the Viblocan block factory, Floresta… and, above all, To the cemetery. The funeral procession came along this route, when the deceased belonged to the parish of Los Remedios.
