The military bunker located in the La Quinta urbanization, in Saint Ursulais a construction that dates back to 1942, designed by Francisco Franco to monitor a large part of the northern coast against a possible invasion during the fight between the allies and the axis powers in the framework of World War II and thus deal with any type of landing that occurred on the beaches of Puerto de la Cruz.
And although it never fulfilled this defensive function because it was armed with obsolete material, the truth is that prestigious soldiers of the time were in charge of this battery, such as Captain José García Borg, and it does not deserve to remain in the lamentable state of conservation in which it was found. It has been there for more than a decade, full of graffiti, with significant damage inside and an accumulation of garbage of all kinds and without a heritage identification plate.
Important pre-Hispanic vestiges were also removed from there and are currently preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Puerto de la Cruz.
In order to rescue it from its current abandonment, the Special Plan for the Protected Landscape of the Acentejo Coast, whose progress has already been approved and the period of allegations recently ended, proposes turning it into a great viewpoint, since it offers one of the most spectacular views of the Costa de Acentejo, a unique space due to the diversity of the landscape, which is intermingled between the mouths of ravines and cliffs.
However, it is not the first time that the proposal to rehabilitate and put this military battery to use has arisen, which has also been echoed by all political formations but which is not easy to execute because the first obstacle that must be overcome is that of powers, divided between the Ministry of Defence, the Santa Ursula City Halland private ownership of the land on which it sits.
Nor is it the only viewpoint that is suggested within the framework of a document that proposes to improve existing facilities and create new ones, associated with the network of trails and roadways, which allow us to contemplate the Natural Area, especially from the areas that they have wide visual basins at the crown of the cliffs.
The construction of viewpoints, as well as the extension of certain sections of trails in these areas, has been associated not only with having places to enjoy the landscape, but also with improving the conditions of the edge, in some sections coinciding with urbanizations, and the enhancement of certain unique elements or elements of patrimonial interest, such as the bunker in Santa Úrsula or the upper winch station of the Domínguez farm, in Tacoronte.
Of the new viewpoints, four are in Santa Úrsula and one in El Sauzal.
Specifically, in the first municipality, in addition to the viewpoint of the military battery or bunker, the Mirador del Negro, the Barranco Hondo and La Forada viewpoints are proposed. Likewise, it is proposed to rehabilitate that of La Mancha II, Lomo Román and that of La Quinta.
In the case of El Sauzal, the document for Progress and Strategic Environmental Study of the Special Plan for the Costa de Acentejo Protected Landscape contemplates a new viewpoint in El Jagre and improving the existing one in Las Breñas.
In any case, on many occasions the action at the viewpoints within the framework of the plan does not imply relevant interventions, but conditioning operations of certain enclaves, which go from Tacoronte to La Orotava.
