In Tenerife, there are buildings with a lot of history. Some are easily recognizable, while others only remain as a memory of what they once were. One that falls into the latter category is the Baudet cinema-theatre, one of the most famous cinemas in the Canary Islands since the 1940s. It was founded by a visionary, Mr. Ramón Baudet Grandy, a passionate man who brought cinema to Tenerife with his Recreational Park, located where the CajaCanarias building now stands.
This place is still located on the central Islas Canarias avenue, but only the skeleton of what was once the largest cinema in the Canary Islands remains, with a main hall that had 1,200 seats. Far in the past is the first premiere that started Baudet’s journey, ‘The Dreamed City’. A cinema that was designed by the same architect who designed the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, the Víctor Cinema, or the Market of Our Lady of Africa, José Enrique Marrero Regalado.
The original Baudet cinema-theatre / Fundación Docomomo Ibérico
Ricardo Marichal, the creator of the Ratatour profile, was able to access the interior of the same a few weeks ago, which is owned by the Tenerife Island Council since 1999. The current state of the site evokes a huge sense of sadness, especially in those who went to the cinema and who grew up going to watch the movies shown there. As reported in the video, the main problem with Baudet focuses on the leaks that enter a building with plaster ceilings. Water and plaster do not mix well in terms of stability, and you can see in the video how part of the ceiling has been crumbling over the years.
In the images, you can see that there are parts of the building that still retain the original elements of yesteryear. The upper seating area or the toilets remain the same as they were enjoyed by thousands of people who attended Baudet decades ago. Additionally, the awnings where movie posters were advertised in the cinemas of the time are still preserved. Details of a cinema that was the most famous in Tenerife thanks to the family that named this space.
The cloakrooms, the bar, or different rooms of the place can be seen in a video not suitable for the most nostalgic of the place. Its current state is far from the memory that many people may have of this place, but they remain intact due to the essence that it had and continues to maintain such an emblematic place like Baudet.
Current state of the interior of the Baudet cinema-theatre / Ratatour
The future of this building
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As Ricardo reports, and as EL DÍA covered last April, in the short term, the Tenerife Island Council is working to launch a competition to keep the building standing. The columns on the upper part will be reinforced to rehabilitate the roof, the most deteriorated part due to the leaks mentioned earlier. The idea of the Culture department is that these works will start at the end of the year and that, in the medium to long term, the site will have a purpose beyond being a dilapidated landmark.
Tenerife is continuing the growth of its history and is an island that is becoming a reference in many aspects, but it cannot overlook such important corners of the past like Baudet, another example of places that marked an important era in our territory and that, as this text is being written, are at risk of disappearing forever.
