The History of Paso Alto Castle in Santa Cruz

A Place of Repression and Imprisonment

“The story of Paso Alto Castle in Santa Cruz cannot be limited to the Gesta. Many other events have taken place there. It was a site of repression and imprisonment during Franco’s dictatorship,” comments Mercedes Pérez Schwartz, president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of the Island of Tenerife (ARMHT), in statements to Atlántico Hoy. The castle is located on the coast of Santa Cruz and was built in the 16th century. It played a significant role in defending Tenerife, as its cannons were instrumental in the British defeat during Nelson’s attack in 1797. History also recounts that the pirate Cabeza de Perro was imprisoned in the castle’s dungeons until his execution.

A Site of Democratic Memory

However, the fact that these same dungeons were used to repress and imprison many individuals during the dictatorship is not sufficiently acknowledged in the history of the city and our country, as expressed by the president of the Association. “The exterior of the castle and its surroundings are well-preserved, but I cannot speak to the condition inside,” Pérez notes, emphasising that they have long been advocating for the site to be designated as a Place of Democratic Memory to comply with the national legislation on this matter approved in 2022.

Political Prisoners

Paso Alto was chosen by the dictatorship as a place to detain political prisoners, including notable figures from the Second Republic, following the coup d’état on 18 July 1936. Among those imprisoned were the last republican mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Carlos Schwartz, and the Civil Governor, Manuel Vázquez Moro, both arrested within hours that day. On 13 October, Vázquez Moro was executed along with other republican leaders; his body was thrown into mass grave number six in patio seven of the Santa Lastenia Cemetery in Santa Cruz, while Schwartz’s remains are still missing.

Repression and Disappearances

“Both Agustín Moro and Navarro were tried in the Audiencia, what is now Parliament. My grandfather was arrested on 18 July and imprisoned in Paso Alto,” details Mercedes Pérez Schwartz, granddaughter of José Carlos Schwartz. She adds that while he was imprisoned, he could only receive visits from his two youngest children, “whereas visits from his wife, my grandmother, were forbidden.” “One day, some right-wing men who knew my grandfather came to the prison and took him, saying he would return home. It was 2 October. He never came back,” she recalls, commenting that he was only taken out, “until then,” to “work and clean the latrines at Fyffes. After that, he was returned to prison.”

Looting of Homes

“The day he disappeared, they told my grandmother he had been released. And she said: he hasn’t been released; if he had, he would have returned home,” she asserts. Pérez Schwartz notes that on the same day he was arrested, he had asked his wife to take the children to a relative’s house, leaving their own home, where he also had his law office, located on one of the side streets that intersects with Robayna Street in the capital. The interviewee explains that that night, under the pretext of searching for weapons, they looted their home and office, stealing valuable family belongings. “My grandmother, who was a strong woman, went to the Captaincy and reported what had happened. The captain, a military officer, agreed with her, recognising that what occurred was not a search but a robbery; however, she never recovered what was stolen.”

65 Prisoners

During the early years of Franco’s regime, Paso Alto served both as a venue for the regime’s judicial proceedings and as accommodation for dozens of prisoners, many of whom were military personnel or members of law enforcement loyal to the republican government, particularly those processed in Case 50 of 1936. According to research by Pedro Medina Sanabria, by 1937, Paso Alto had 65 prisoners registered from other municipalities. “It is a paradox that this census of prisoners was signed by Francisco La Roche, as interim mayor, and that it continues to name one of the main streets of the capital, in violation of the Memory Law of 2007,” he points out.

Seven Years of Waiting

Pérez emphasises that Paso Alto Castle is one of the few remaining sites of repression in the capital of Tenerife, following the closure of places like Fyffes, the Cavalry Barracks, the provincial prison temporarily located on San Miguel Street, the women’s prison in Toscal, and the dismantling of prison ships that were situated in the capital’s port. The president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Tenerife reminds us that they have been advocating for over seven years for the importance of this site and requesting that it be officially recognised, giving it the role it deserves in the collective memory. “This place should help explain and understand what happened during those years, as well as honour and dignify the victims of these abuses.”

Request to Initiate Process

The Association believes it is essential to break with the Francoist past and provide the city with a centre that allows for the interpretation and understanding of events, giving faces to the victims and where associations can develop educational and cultural activities related to democratic memory. With a focus on this former prison, the Association has initiated the process outlined in Article 50.1 of Law 20/2022, of 19 October, of Democratic Memory, to have the former Paso Alto prison in the capital of Tenerife declared a Place of Democratic Memory. “Many years later, we have had to step forward and submit this request to initiate the process and follow the necessary proceedings, both from the Justice Department of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Defence,” she concludes, hoping that their request will culminate in the declaration of Paso Alto as a Place of Democratic Memory.