The North of Tenerife was yesterday the area chosen by the vandals to undertake actions that left a bad taste in the residents’ mouths, mainly in Los Realejos and Garachico.
Early on Monday, the inhabitants of Icod El Alto found that the bronze sculpture of Mencey Bentor, a piece of Tenerife’s cultural heritage located in the El Lance viewpoint, had been painted with offensive, rude and sexist profanity. , and attacked by those who do not know how to appreciate its value.
Operators from the municipal company Realserv came to assess the damage and try to remove the paint, which was still fresh. Today, a specialized bronze foundry company is expected to assess the damage and determine the most appropriate treatment to be given, which will surely consist of reprinting a patina.
The Mencey Bentor sculpture is one of the symbols of the Icod el Alto area. What happened is an attack on the cultural and artistic heritage of the municipality and was thus condemned by both the mayor, Manuel Domínguez, and the Councilor for Heritage, Adolfo González.
It is a work by the Canarian artist Carmen León Rodríguez, dating from 1996 and paying homage to the figure of the last Mencey of the Canary Islands, who jumped into the void from the slope of Tigaiga, preferring death to the possibility of being taken prisoner by the Castilian conquering forces.
The outrage at what happened was the same as that of the families of the users of the ‘La Casita Amarilla’ Nursery School in Garachico, upon learning that for the second time in a month it had suffered damage. This fact prevented it from opening its doors yesterday with the consequent problem that this caused families, since it is an essential municipal service to be able to reconcile work and family life.
Luckily, the damage is not serious, several broken windows and furniture moved from its place with the intention of stealing, the mayor, José Heriberto González, confirmed to this newspaper.
The service concessionaire reported what happened to the insurance company, which must carry out the appropriate assessments.
However, the City Council must replace the damage so that it can resume activity, which will be today, after presenting the complaint to the judicial authority to investigate what happened.
