The Permanent Tagoror of El Puertito de Adeje, established on 12 June with the aim of “informing in situ about the destructive progress of the illegal tourist megaproject Cuna del Alma”, is urging the Canary Government and the Tenerife Cabildo to urgently halt these works, which they consider not only “illegal”, but also pose a risk to a site that should be preserved intact “due to its undeniable historical, archaeological, ethnographic, biological, and geological value”. The new group emphasises that new archaeological sites are continuing to be discovered in the area, such as some Guanche engravings (see the photo provided by this group) and also proposes “the expropriation of this rural land and the creation of the Museum of Site of the History and Nature of Tenerife”.
According to the explanation, “during a walk last Sunday, 6 July, a rock engraving was coincidentally identified and geolocated in the report of the Tegüico association (Report on Archaeological and Ethnographic Resources in the Areas of Puertito de Adeje, Diego Hernández, and Playa de Los Morteros, from 23 May 2022), a document that served as the basis for the first suspension of the works”. The group maintains that this engraving “was not located by the Cabildo technicians at the time (in their report on the effects on cultural heritage caused by the works, from 23 June 2022). Furthermore, on the same day, relevant archaeological materials were registered at the surface, such as abundant fragments of indigenous ceramics, shells, and other remains possibly associated with ancient residential or ritual uses, fragments of obsidian, and what could constitute a cupule station, an element of notable patrimonial and cultural value”.
The group emphasises that these findings “are not officially catalogued or protected, which exposes them to imminent destruction due to the urban development plans in the area, which include earthworks, construction of luxury tourist villas, creation of paths, roundabouts, and landscaped areas”. Therefore, under Article 94 and related sections of Law 11/2019 of 25 April, on Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands, they request “the immediate adoption of urgent precautionary measures, such as the immediate suspension of any type of intervention on the affected land until a formal archaeological inspection is carried out”. They also consider it essential to urgently dispatch “qualified technical personnel (archaeologists from the Heritage service or competent entity) for the in situ evaluation of the area and the elements located due to their possible archaeological/ethnographic value and their imminent disappearance due to the advance of the works”.
They also believe it is necessary to “investigate the nearby caves and residences of the Barranco de El Puertito, which could not be analysed previously, but can be now as the people residing there have been expelled, as outlined in the aforementioned report from the Cabildo (pages 21, 22, and 64)”. Additionally, they request that “the need to initiate a cataloguing file for the identified elements and the entire area as a protected archaeological zone be assessed, as stipulated in Law 11/2019 of 25 April on Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands), given its material continuity and potential interpretative value of a unique temporary settlement on the southern coast of Tenerife”.
This platform believes that “these elements, in addition to their archaeological value, have enormous importance as part of the identity heritage of the Canary Islands, so any alteration or loss would be irreversible and unjustifiable, especially when there are legal mechanisms for preventive protection as invoked”.
