More than 39,000 people have visited the Masca ravine and passed through the new Visitors Center in its first year of operation after the rehabilitation carried out by the Council of Tenerife and marked by the low accident rate, an objective set by the Island Institution in its proposal to remodel the path of the ravine. Of the total number of visitors, 10,418 obtained a reservation to access the path.
The volume of visitors who accessed to see the facilities and services comprises 29 percent of the visits, while 25 percent had a reservation to carry out the activity in the ravine and the other 46 percent did so for tourist or informative queries. .
“After the remodeling of the itinerary of the path of the ravine and the start-up of the Visitor Center The Masca area celebrates a year in which the low accident rate produced must be highlighted”has indicated the Minister of Management of the Natural Environment and Security of the Cabildo, Isabel García.
On March 27, 2021, the new facilities of the Masca ravine visitor center were inaugurated, thus opening the natural space after a closure period of more than two years, during which it remained closed for the execution of the rehabilitation and improvement works in the area.
The minister indicated that this enclave of the Teno Rural Park was one of the most dangerous of all the protected natural spaces on the island, and therefore “it had to be closed to the public.” However, Garcia pointed out, “throughout this year in which the new model has been operating, the rescue helicopter has only had to be activated four times.” However, the itinerary has had to be closed 16 days throughout the year, mainly for reasons related to meteorological phenomena, “also ensuring in this way that the existing conditions do not affect visitors.”
This year, 39,157 people have passed through the Visitor Center to enjoy and find out about this natural area, most of them young (27.5%) or adults (31.1%), interested in descending the Masca ravine, or looking for information on other natural matters, since the Visitor Center is a tourist information point at the island level, all of them being fundamentally hikers.
Visitors from Spain have been the most numerous (12.3%), followed by Germany (12.2%) and France (11%). Also notable were the numbers of people from Poland (5%), the United Kingdom (3.4%) and Italy (2.4%), as well as from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Russia, Austria, the Slovak Republic , Iceland and other European countries that together accounted for 20.5 per cent of the total, compared to 0.4 per cent of those from America, 0.4 per cent of countries in Asia and the Middle East and 0.1 per cent of Oceania.
As for the means of transport used to get to Masca, 61 percent of the people who went did so by car, while 25 percent did so by public bus or 3 percent by taxi. Another 10 percent did so in someone else’s car and 1 percent on foot.
The Cabildo has invested more than one million euros in the development of the works, with the participation of other public administrations. These focused on redirecting and conditioning the road, signage, and creating the current control and security service to limit the number of accesses to the ravine, to guarantee the safety and conservation of this natural area.
The Visitor Center intends, in addition to managing the entrance to the path of the ravine -provided that a prior reservation is available and the minimum mandatory equipment and physical condition are met-, value traditional Canarian life and specifically in the Teno area.
Until October 18, 2021, the center was only open on weekends and holidays. From that date the schedule is from Monday to Friday, except holidays, from 09:00 to 17:00, and on weekends and holidays, from 08:00 to 18:00, just like the path of the ravine.
In order to access the path of the ravine, you must currently make a reservation through a booking engine located on the website www.caminobarrancodemasca.com. At the moment they are only offered on weekends and holidays and in the descent and ascent mode.
