To the Prosecutor’s Office. Miguel Ángel Hernández, erstwhile cultural manager and the sole technician in this domain from 2007 until the conclusion of 2022 within the Town Hall of La Orotava, the largest municipality in Tenerife and the most populous in the North of the Island (42,000), has opted to resort to the legal system to report what has historically occurred with the Teobaldo Power Auditorium, which has not had a security plan since it functioned as a cinema from 1957 to 1989 and has served as the primary socio-cultural venue of the locality since 1991 after being acquired by the local council.
Immediately after discussing with Canarias Ahora his verbal and written grievances to the local administration over the past five years, as published last Friday, Hernández dispatched two emails containing his account and documentation to the Prosecutor’s Office in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, although on Wednesday, he chose to present them personally at the offices in the Tenerife capital. According to him, the renovation of the Teobaldo Power, unexpectedly announced last week by the Orotavense City Council and the Tenerife Cabildo, for a venue that had awaited these works for decades, is due to or has been hastened, in truth, by the events in Valencia involving DANA on October 29, particularly since there was already programming set for the remainder of 2024 and concerts in 2025 for which tickets were in the process of being sold.
Hernández asserts that upon becoming aware of the announcement regarding the construction works, he could only connect it to the tragic, destructive, and fatal flood near the Valencian capital, recalling that besides his numerous verbal warnings to the local government, he had already formally notified in writing in 2017 about the absence of a security plan for this facility as well as for other venues hosting socio-cultural programming within the municipality. The renovation is expected to take, at minimum, three years and cost around 13 million euros, with 80% funded by the Tenerife Cabildo and the remaining amount covered by the council. Nonetheless, Hernández harbours concerns that it could extend far beyond that timeline.
On October 25, 2017, this lawyer by profession, who later specialised in cultural management, submitted a concise yet powerful report to the council, where he formally warned about what he had been verbally communicating for years and persisted in denouncing thereafter. As he highlighted back then, which he believes illustrates a failure to assume responsibilities on the part of the local government (CC), as nearly no measures were undertaken to ensure the safety of the venue, “to date, the Teobaldo Power Auditorium, along with other municipal facilities hosting cultural activities, lacks evacuation and emergency strategies, posing a significant risk to individuals in the event of an accident or any unforeseen occurrence.”
In light of this, he urged the Mayor’s Office to “promptly draft the necessary safety and evacuation plans to facilitate ongoing cultural programming without incidences, as mandated by Law 7/2011 on Classified Activities and Public Entertainment.” and other relevant administrative provisions, as well as the entirety of legislation pertaining to this matter.”
Nevertheless, cultural programming has persisted, although other sources familiar with the local situation over several decades underscore that this activity primarily relied on who and when the Teobaldo Power was requested, indicating that there was no independently planned cultural project; instead, the annual events calendar was populated based on the availability of the venue without seeking financial contributions to engender the supposed support from the council.
Non-compliance with Law 7/2011 on Public Entertainment
Hernández, originating from the local neighbourhood of La Perdoma, believes that the Orotava City Council has
For decades, there has been a failure to adhere to the law of 7/2011 concerning Classified Activities and Public Entertainment, which permitted a variety of events, ranging from performances by Alfredo Kraus, Montserrat Caballé, Ana Belén, Michel Camilo, the Symphony, and numerous other renowned artists and groups, to amateur theatre productions and school functions. Moreover, it is important to recall that in 2013, following the fire at Saida Prieto’s fantasy during the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival queen’s gala, the then mayor, Isaac Valencia (CC), along with the municipal secretary, Juan Carlos De Tomás Martín, signed a decree to close and renovate the auditorium. However, the Culture councillor and current leader, Francisco Linares (also a regional deputy at present), opposed this decision to avoid halting cultural activities in the venue, which has persisted until now, as he perceives that everything hastens when assessing the consequences of DANA in Valencia.
The former manager consistently worried about the implications of being held accountable for incidents akin to those that occurred at the Madrid Arena. Simultaneously, he highlights the shortage of cultural technicians in a municipality like La Orotava, especially when compared to many smaller towns in the region or on other islands, and flags the significant hazards present in the venue. These concerns include the cork lining the sides that purports to enhance acoustics; however, it poses a considerable risk in case of a fire, the limited access points for a hall accommodating 700 individuals (with plans to expand to a thousand for the ‘Insular Auditorium of the North of Tenerife’), the stage bearing numerous props from the 1991 extension intended for the Canary Islands Music Festival, the acoustic shell held together by large wooden planks secured with ropes instead of approved cabling, the existing leaks and dampness, as well as the potential hazards of the ‘carcinogenic uralite’ in the ceiling, where supports are held up by a rod and plaster threads that are at risk of collapsing at any moment.
According to their account, and despite the ‘cold conditions they were experiencing,’ this state of affairs, coupled with the absence of a safety plan, led the Tenerife Symphony to decline any further performances at the Teobaldo. In their view, these circumstances may signify ongoing irregularities, prompting him to escalate the matter to the Prosecutor’s Office for appropriate action, should they share his perspective.
So far, the Orotava administration has merely referred this publication to the press release announcing the three-year renovation in conjunction with the Cabildo.
