On 5 November 1978, the parish of La Concepción in Los Realejos was entirely devastated by a catastrophic fire which rapidly spread through the temple, destroying invaluable works of art and traditional imagery created by artists such as Fernando Estévez from the Garachico School and those from the 17th-century Seville School. The damages were estimated at around 250 million pesetas, equivalent to 1.5 million euros.
Swift action was taken by the local community. On the same day, a committee of residents was formed, and at the home of their future president, priest José Siverio Pérez, they compiled a detailed dossier outlining the damage. This was presented the day after the tragic incident to Queen Sofía, who was in Tenerife to inaugurate the airport named after her in the South of the Island.
The Spanish monarch had already been informed about the incident via a telegram sent to Zarzuela by the Town Hall the previous day, and she promised to do everything possible to assist with the restoration. According to contemporary reports, it was she who intervened with the government of Adolfo Suárez to secure the necessary funding to initiate the restoration works, which were financed by the Ministry of Public Works.
The reconstruction process spanned 15 years, with the parish finally reopening its doors for worship on 27 June 1993.
Half of this time was taken by David Pérez-Siverio González to write *La Parroquia Matriz de Realejo Bajo. Memoria y patrimonio devocional*, a book that provides insights into the intricacies that enabled the restoration, and will be presented today at 20:30 in the church itself.
This 776-page testimony of faith reflects the five centuries of history of this church and stems from prior research work. It is also part of a heritage dissemination project by the author, funded by the Canary Islands Government.
“The difficult and complex aspect, and the reason why this book has taken so long to complete, was the effort involved in collecting, organising, and chronologically sorting all the documentary material, which was dispersed among the homes of board members, some of whom had passed away,” explained the historian, who was awarded the ‘Viera y Clavijo Research Prize in Humanities 2024’.
Additionally, there are 17,000 photographs on paper, slides, negatives, and various formats that he had to scan. This amounted to a sort of “documentary archaeology,” as termed by a friend, because they served as primary documents given that the artworks themselves were not preserved.
The initial idea—later expanded upon—was motivated by a group of friends to write and research the fire and subsequent reconstruction of the church. “It was a very complicated process because the historical context was not conducive at that time, in the midst of a democratic transition; nonetheless, it was achieved, despite other churches, such as San Agustín in La Laguna, which was devastated by flames a few years earlier, not being as fortunate.”
