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| A Brief time line for the history of Tenerife paying particular attention to LOS GIGANTES and the Municipality of SANTIAGO DEL TEIDE. Click on the dates below. |
| 1936 | 2003 |
|
 30,000,000
BC
The Canary islands are estimated to be around 30 million years
old, relatively young by geological standards. The volcanoes that form
the islands' backbone saw the light of day at about the time the Atlas
Mountains were formed. The highest volcano, Tenerife's Teide at 3718m
(12,195ft) is Spain's tallest peak and the third tallest volcano in the
world after the two in Hawaii. Where Tenerife now stands today, it is
believed that there were 3 islands (what are now) the Anaga, Teno (where
Santiago del Teide is now) and Valle San Lorenzo mountain ranges. In a
tremendous volcanic process the old central volcano and the great mountain
range (Cumbre Dorsal) melted together into what we know today as Tenerife.
Presumably the top of the volcano did not explode but collapsed in it's
own crater and is now one of the greatest collapsed craters of the world
(Las Cañadas). This oval crater is at it's longest distance about
17Km long. |
 |
|
|
500,000
BC 500.000 years ago the last stage of volcanic activity
in Tenerife took place. The 'Pico Viejo' (old peak) erupted first and
some time later the higher 'Pico del Teide'.
|
| 427-347 BC The existence of the islands was known, or at least postulated, in ancient times, and Plato spoke of Atlantis, a continent that had sunk beneath the ocean floor in a great cataclysm that left only the peaks of its highest mountains above the water. The islands gained an almost mythic reputation, passed down from one classical writer to the next, as a Garden of Eden. This also fits in with the islands' latter day nickname, the Fortunate Islands. TOP *** Back to homepage |
 200
BC Carbon dating has placed the earliest settlement
at around 200 BC, although earlier settlement is possible. One clue, apart
from the ancient skulls of the original inhabitants, are the conquering
Europeans' 15th century descriptions of locals on Tenerife. According to
the tales of the European conquerors, the Guanches were a "highly beautiful
white race, tall, muscular, and with a great many blondes amongst their
numbers" Their great height must be understood in relation to the average
height of Europeans at that time. Guanche was the name by which the natives
of Tenerife called themselves. Guan Chenech meant "Man from Chenech",
or man from Tenerife. With the passage of time, the term Guanche became
identified with all the native peoples of the Canaries. It would seem that
the natives of La Palma, seeing the snow-covered peak of the Teide on the
horizon, called that island Ten-er-efez, "White Mountain" (from
Ten, teno, dun, duna= mountain, and er-efez= white). Suggestions for the
origins of the Guanches have ranged from Celtic immigrants from mainland
Spain or Portugal, to Norse invaders, supplying a possible explanation for
the blonde hair and blue eyes. Berber immigrants from nearby Saharan Africa
almost certainly inhabited some of the eastern islands, and place names
bear a striking resemblance to Berber tribal languages. Occasionally blue
eyes and fair hair crop up among the Berbers as well, so the Guanches' origin
is still open to question. The Guanches relied on limited farming, herding,
hunting and gathering, and the majority of them lived in caves. |
|
|
The Canaries were rediscovered by a Genovese fleet under Lancelot Malocello. |
| 1341
A detailed survey was made by Nicoloso de Recco of Genoa in 1341. 1402 In 1402, Jean de Béthencourt, from Normandy, occupied, the islands of Lanzarote, Castilla. Fuerteventura, Gomera and Hierro, on behalf of King Henri III Spain but Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria resisted occupation. |
| 1433-1479 A papal bull of 1433 awarded rights over the Canaries to Henry the Navigator of Portugal, but this decision was reversed in 1436, when another papal bull awarded these rights to the crown of Castile. In the Alcovas treaty of 1479, Portugal recognised the rights of the Castilians to the Canaries, in return for Castilian recognition of Portugese sovereignty over Fez and Guinea. |
| 1492 Under the patronage of Isabelle of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon. Christopher Columbus would stop 4 times in these islands on his way to America, between 1492 and 1502, mainly in La Gomera where his mistress lived. TOP *** Back to homepage |
 3
May 1494 In 1494
Alonso Fernández de Lugo arrived from occupied Gran Canaria and landed
at Añaza Beach (today's harbour of Santa Cruz), on the boundary between
the kingdoms of Anaga and Güimar. He arrived with Spanish troops, but
also with a considerable number of natives of Gran Canaria who had been
converted to Christianity. Their island had been part of the Kingdom of
Castile for the last 20 years. On the 3 May 1494 a solemn mass was said
on the beach, and the "Adelantado" or military governor (official
title of Fernández de Lugo), by erecting in a wooden cross, founded
the Royal city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Holy Cross of Tenerife. His orders
were to subdue the last bastion of resistance of the Canary natives –
Tenerife. Prior to the landing, the Spaniards had established an agreement
with four of the nine Menceys of the island: Güimar, Anaga, Abona and
Adeje (which included where Los Gigantes now stands today). These four "kingdoms"
submitted peaceably , not just because they had had contact with Spanish
missionaries for some time; but more so , because there was no sense of
'common Nation' among the Guanches. There had always been frequent wars
or skirmishes between the different tribes or "kingdoms". However,
the Great Mencey of Taoro and Island's Main King, Bencomo, the king of Raoro
(today La Orotava) refused to accept the occupation and allied with the
kingdoms of Daute, Icod, Tacoronte and Tegueste, faced the invaders. Together
they formed a plan to ambush the invader. Alonso Fernández de Lugo
and his forces unsuspectingly pressed forward into the interior of the island,
crossed the Aguere Valley and arrived at the North shore. The area was deserted.
The indigenous population had "vanished". Still arrogantly believing
there would be no resistance from these ignorant savages he pressed on to
Taoro. (Picture=The foundation of Santa Cruz de Tenerife,Painting
by Manuel González Méndez, Plenary Session Room, Parliament
of the Canary Islands) TOP
*** Back to homepage |
 31
May 1494 On the 31st of May of 1494 the Spaniards walked
blindly into the ravine of Acentejo ("Pouring waters") and there
they met disaster. Guanches attacked them from the slopes. Using stones
and spears against the Spanish blunderbusses and canon, and they fought
naked while the conquerors wore armour and shields. In spite of their overwhelming
advantage , the Spaniards suffered a terrible defeat. Four out of five Spanish
soldiers were killed. Fernández de Lugo, was wounded and surviving
only by a miracle, retreated, harried by the Guanches until he was forced
to re-embark and sail back to Gran Canaria. The Guanches had won - for the
moment. To this day the town built on the site where the massacre occurred
is called La Matanza (the slaughter) de Acentejo Today besides the motorway
there is a huge stone wall painting with a Guanche blowing the victory signal
through a horn to commemorate the event. |
| 1495 Humiliated, Alonso Fernández de Lugo sold all his properties in order to fund a new expedition to Tenerife. In 1495 he landed again in Añaza, where he rebuilt the destroyed fort of Santa Cruz. More cautious after the previous experience, he advanced gradually and he built another fort on the way to the interior of the island: the fort of Gracia (Grace). The Guanches and Castilians met on the plain of Aguere. At the place where the University of La Laguna now stands a terrible battle took place. The Guanches were decimated. Their mistake had been to fight on the plain, where the cavalry - terrible and unknown to them, destroyed them. The Mencey Bencomo and Sigoñe -Military Chief- Tinguaro were killed. The Spaniards advanced along the North shore and the Guanches faced them again in Acentejo, near the place of the Slaughter - La Matanza. This time -thanks to past experience - the Spaniards won, and they founded there the town of "La Victoria de Acentejo" -The Victory of Acentejo. |
 The
conquerors finally arrived at the rich Arautava Valley (La Orotava), heartland
of Taoro and here they met the real hardcore of resistance. Bencomo's son,
Bentor, had been proclaimed Mencey. But the situation among the Guanches
was catastrophic. An epidemic, called by the Spaniards "Guanche Drowsiness",
broke out and decimated the population killing them in their hundreds in
just a few weeks. It was probably a European sickness against which the
immune system of the Guanches was unprepared, as the illness didn't affect
the Spaniards. |
| 25th December 1495. In the place now known as the town of Los Realejos (Little "Reales" or military camps) the Guanches surrendered and Tenerife was annexed to the Crown of Castile. The three-times repeated protocolary proclamation, "Tenerife for their Highnesses the Catholic Queen and King doña Isabel and don Fernando" marked the historic moment. However, some sources of resistance still remained. Skirmishes continued spasmodically for several more years. Mencey Bentor retreated to the cliffs of Tigaiga, at the foot of Teide volcano and above his former kingdom of Taoro. He threw himself to his death, unable to deal with the loss of his freedom and the Guañac, Country. TOP *** Back to homepage |
| 1496 After the victory over the Guanches, de Lugo constructed the metropolis of 'San Cristobal de La Laguna' in 1496, beside a lake which was about seven kilometres away from the bay of 'Añaza'. The next century saw massacres, warfare and Guanches sold off wholesale into slavery, their language had all but disappeared, the survivors had intermarried with the invaders, converted to Christianity and taken Spanish names. |
| 16th Century Most surviving Guanches were baptized. They took christian names and the family names of their conqueror godfathers and godmothers. These baptisms en masse accounted for the disappearance -literally overnight -of Guanche names among the island's population. Just a few Guanche family names are still present centuries later. One is the surname of the direct descendants of the Great Mencey of Taoro, Bencomo. There are others, like Guanche, Ibaute or Baute, and Oramas still to be found in the local telephone directories today! Conversely the names of places, towns, valleys, rocks and mountains are still mostly of Guanche origin: Teide, Ucanca, Tejina, Tegueste, Tacoronte, Orotava, Chimiche, Arico, Adeje, Isora, Arona. Guanche rebels were enslaved and were sold on European auction blocks, but many of them, after having been baptized, appealed to the Crown, and in many cases they were freed and allowed to return to the islands, against the wishes of the colonists who tried constantly to convince the Crown that the Guanches were dangerous, fearing a revolt. Some Guanches refused to live in the towns and villages which were by now built all over the island and preferred to live free as shepherds in the mountains following their traditional ways of life. They were called "rebellious Guanches" (Guanches alzados) by the colonists, although their actions were in no way rebellious at all - they just wanted to be left alone. The conquistadors distributed land and founded towns and villages. Some estates were given to Guanche aristocrats of the tribes which had been friendly to the Spaniards. The natives of Gran Canaria and other islands who helped to the conquest also received homesteading rights. Alonso Fernández de Lugo's crown jewel was the town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, built in the delightful Aguere Valley. The seat of the Island's Cabildo (Council) was established in the brand-new capital, and in time also the first Islands' university and Tenerife's cathedral and bishop's palace. The population of Tenerife became mixed after a short period of time, with a large influx of European immigrants from several countries. The 16th century, was the time of the Great Spanish World Empire. Flemish, Germans, Italians and Portuguese established themselves in Tenerife. TOP *** Back to homepage |
1503
The area where Los Gigantes now stands had been part of the Kingdom of the
Mencey (King) of Adeje, and of the “Archmencyato” (high chieftainship)
of Tamaimo  but
after the Spanish conquest it came under the jurisdiction of don Alonso
Fernández of Lugo who had been made military governor of the island,
during the first subdivisions of the conquered territory. There is a record
dated 1503 showing that 100 fanegas (an agricultural measurement roughly
equivalent to an acre) of arable land in the valley of Santiago was conceded
to Diego Mencey who came from Adeje. It is thought that before his conversion
to Christianity Diego had been called Pelinor – and was likely one
of the guanche kings who had co-operated with the invaders. A statue of
his son Cherfe stands in Santiago del Teide town today. |
| 1508 A deed to the territory of the Valley of Santiago was conceded to Juan Cabeza of Extremadura, who had been granted land rights in the area in 1508. He became the first “Lord of the manor” for the area. |
| 1509 On the 19 April 1509 Alonso Diaz of the Valley of Santiago, the son of Don Diego (formerly Pelinor) after years of struggles and appeals to the crown, managed to obtain a favourable judgment from Fernando II of Aragón and Isabel I of Castille to whom he had taken his petition: that the Governor Alonso Fernández of Lugo return to him 200 goats that said governor had taken by force. The most important economic activity in the area at the time was based around fishing and the sea. The inhabitants utilized the timber from the mountains of Arguayo and the Valley of Santiago to make boats seaworthy, which then sailed from the ports of Garachico and Adeje en route to Lisbon and Cadiz. |
| 1526 One of the first crops to be grown on a large scale was sugar cane. In addition to the need for large cleared areas, sugar production required large amounts of fuel to boil the cane juice: decimating the pine forests of the island. The primary interest of foreign merchants in Tenerife was the export of the sugar in return for the import of cloth. Hakluyt described the trade by Nicholas Thorne of Bristol in 1526, who exchanged sugar, orchil and goatskins for cloth 'both coarse and fine, broad and narrow, of divers sorts and colours'. |
| 1550
The hermitage of Santiago was constructed in “Valle
de arriba” just outside where Santiago del Teide town is today. 1560s By the 1560s Tenerife had twelve sugar mills in operation. 1587 The Engineer Leonardo Torriani was sent by King Philip 2nd to fortify the Canary Islands as a precaution against invasion. He Landed at the Port of Santiago in 1587 (little has changed in the old harbour of Puerto Santiago that one can see today) |
| 1569-1599 Spain's control of the Canary islands did not go unchallenged. First Moroccan troops occupied Lanzarote in 1569 and 1586, then Sir Francis Drake tried a little gunboat diplomacy off Las Palmas in 1595. A Dutch fleet reduced Las Palmas to rubble in 1599, TOP *** Back to homepage |
 April
1657 In April 1657 Admiral Robert Blake got word of
a Spanish treasure fleet. He attacked the fleet at Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- it was his greatest victory. His captains led the frigates inshore to
attack the ships in the harbour. Blake and the larger ships stayed outside
and fired upon the guns of the shore forts. The Spanish fleet was destroyed.
The English ships were battered, but not one was lost. |
| 1663 The municipality (county) of Santiago del Teide (of which Los Gigantes is part) was known of old as The Valley of Santiago and there had been a hermitage dedicated to Santiago there for for some years. In 1663 don Fernando del Hoyo y Solórzano was made the “Lord of the Manor” of the Valley of Santiago. Formal constitution of the Manor of the Valley of Santiago, was made by the Military Governor Don Fernando del Ovo Solórzano by the Royal concession of 3 july 1663. Said manor was signed over to Fernando del Hoyo after he had donated 3200 silver ducats to the crown . He also measured the extent of the valley in Leagues (1 league equals approx 5.5km) The jurisdiction of his Lordship included the administration of criminal (as opposed to ecclesiastical) law, including the right to incarcerate, hang, spike the heads of, garrotte, whip with a “cat-o-nine-tails”, cut off various extremities, or set free (not likely?) any and all miscreants, adjudged by him to be lawbreakers. |
In February 2003 Work expected to cost some 5 and half million Euros has been started on restoring this building. TOP *** Back to homepage |
| 1676 In 1676 Bishop Bartolomé García Jiménez foresaw the need the create a parish in the region so that the local populace did not have to depend on the parish already established in Buenavista for the various administrative and spiritual tasks undertaken by parish priest, and put his proposal to the Crown, who subsequently gave their approval. Don Fernando del Hoyo y Solórzano the “Lord of the Manor” of the Valley of Santiago at that time offered to construct a new church dedicated to San Fernando, which would incorporate the ancient hermitage. |
| 1679 The inauguration of the Church of Saint Fernando in what is today the town of Santiago del Teide on the 9th September of 1679 saw the creation of a parish of the same name. Its jurisdiction extended from Juan Lopez and Masca up to the ravine of Vera de Erques |
| 1776 On the 30 October 1776 the strong-hold or fort of Adeje conceded to Town council of the Valley of Santiago del Teide, territory previously designated as The Wastelands, which were subsequently passed to the local inhabitants, in exchange for paying a tax to the Town council, and this for almost the next 2 centuries was Its principal source of income. |
| 1778 There was by now frequent interaction between the port of Santiago and the neighbouring Island of La Gomera. In 1778 denizens of Puerto de Santiago earnt 1334 Reals (1000 Reals = 1.5 euros approx) for exporting honey to La Gomera. |
| 5 October 1796 Spain declared war on England |
| 25 May 1797 The attack on Santa Cruz of the 25th May 1797 by the British Navy was not really in response to an invasion strategy on behalf of the British Crown. More likely the Sailors were following the mores of the time, seeking the fabulous riches, which they believed were in the colonists coffers and if circumstances permitted would ransom the good citizens of the town as well. |
| 5 September 1797 On the 5th September 1797, the British Navy attempted a landing in the region of Puerto Santiago. They were repelled by the stones launched at them by the inhabitants of the Valley of Santiago thrown from the heights of the cliffs of Los Gigantes. |
 25
July 1797 Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson attacked Santa Cruz,
the capital town of Tenerife and headquarters of the Capitan General (Military
Commander and sort of Viceroy of the islands) on 25 July 1797 The battle
took place in the harbour and in the town streets. Nelson was hit by gunfire
during an attempt to disembark at Santa Cruz' shore. He was defeated and
lost his right arm. The declaration of Santa Cruz as an incorporated town
was a direct consequence of the victory over the British in their attempts
to occupy the site. |
 2nd
half 18th century Dutch maps of the period used the peak
of El Teide on Tenerife as their prime meridian. Large areas of pine and
laurel forest had been lost to the sugar industry by the 18th century. and
when George Glas visited Orotava in 1764 he noted that few mature pines
remained. In 1799, the famous German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (who
founded the University at La Laguna) stayed in Tenerife and spoke enthusiastically
of the beauty of the area, especially the Orotava valley. Was he the father
of Tourism? (Picture=Alexander von Humboldt 1769-1859)
TOP
*** Back to homepage
|
 1812
The Municipality of the Valley of Santiago del Teide was
Created in 1812, when the Parliament of Cadiz (forerunner to the modern
day Spanish constitution) over-rode the feudal law of the “Lords of
the manor”. Its boundaries extended to the west of the island over
an area of 2,25 km2. and including the areas of Casco (El Valle), Valle
de Arriba, Las Manchas, Arguayo, El Molledo, El Retamar, Tamaimo, Puerto
de Santiago and Los Gigantes, bordered on the North by the municipalities
of Icod de Los Vinos, Garachico, el Tanque and Los Silos, to the East by
Buenavista del Norte and to the south by Guía de Isora. |
| 1821 The Canaries were declared a province of Spain in 1821. Santa Cruz de Tenerife was declared the official capital, adding fuel to the already low-level bickering between Tenerife and Gran Canaria. |
| 1835 The formal constitution of the Town Council of Valley of Santiago del Teide took place around 1835 |
| Mid 19th Century The inhabitants of Gran Canaria demanded that the province be split into two, which it was for a short and unsuccessful period in the 1840s. Several agricultural commodities followed boom-bust cycles on the islands: sugar cane, wine and then cochineal for making dyes all had their day, followed by bananas and to a lesser extent tomatoes and potatoes. TOP *** Back to homepage |
| 1884 The Town Council started the first school in the Valley of Santiago del Teide in 1884. |
| 1890s Tourists (mainly well-to-do British) began coming to Tenerife in significant numbers towards the end of the last century. At that time tourism was centred around the northern resort town of Puerto de la Cruz and, to a lesser extent, the island's capital Santa Cruz. Both towns boasted a handful of grandiose hotels, the most popular being the Grand Hotel Taoro in Puerto de la Cruz. Built in 1892, |
| 1893 The Medal of Charity, was awarded to Santa Cruz de Tenerife by Queen Regent María Cristina in 1893 during the cholera epidemic, in which the citizens behaved bravely |
 1890s
Until the end of the 19th century the Valley of Santiago enjoyed great prestige
from the bull fights which were put on in honour of San Pedro. |
photo courtesy of Colectivo Arguayo shows some farmers watching the eruption from quite close by. TOP *** Back to homepage |
 1914
Wolfgang Köhler assumed the directorship of the Anthropoid
Research Station on the island of Tenerife. The station was financed by
the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Köhler was confined to the island
for the duration of World War I because the British Navy controlled the
seas around Tenerife and he carried out his famous studies of insightful
problem solving in chimpanzees during this time. The WWI British maritime
blockade also destroyed the banana trade, and after the war the Canarios
voted with their feet and fled the poverty at home in droves for a new life
in Latin America |
2
July 1916 On the 2 July 1916 the official title of the
region of the Valley of Santiago was changed to Santiago del Teide. The
reason for this was because of several mistakes which had been made when
(mainly Cuban) Immigrants were trying to mail letters home, and these
were directed by the postal service to Playa Santiago (Santiago Beach)
in La Gomera instead of to the Valley of Santiago in Tenerife.
|
1930s In the early 1930s the area of Santiago del Teide had experienced the beginning of an economic upswing with the arrival of a proper road. But the short period of hope that followed WWI was dashed when Spain fell into the chaos of civil war in 1936. TOP *** Back to homepage |
 1936
A major factor in the development of 20th Century Tenerife was the Spanish
Civil War and the rise to power of General Francisco Franco. Franco had
been a very high ranking soldier in the Spanish Army but the Republican
government, wary of Franco's right-wing political leanings, posted him (in
effect a kind of exile) to Tenerife in March of1936. It was from there that
the political coup was secretly planned and the Canaries were consequently
first to fall to Franco's forces in July and the first to suffer mass executions
of writers, trade unionists, socialists, anyone whom Franco's militia considered
a threat, before Franco and his forces moved on to Morocco. The right-wing
military uprising against the Spanish government was declared in Spanish
Morocco from where the army was airlifted to the Spanish mainland by German
planes. On the one hand, it's true to say that Franco did bring a new prosperity
to Spain and to the Canaries, but local feeling is that the regime also
imposed too many restrictions on Canarian autonomy, a feeling which many
still express today. |
 1950’s
The fifties were marked by a wave of emigration towards latin america, already
started in the early years of the century with the trade and work in the
Cuban plantations, now turned towards the economic rise of Venezuela. The
Canaries suffered from the same post-war misery as Spain 16,000 fled the
Canaries, and a third of those who attempted the journey perished in leaky
boats. |
| 1950 - 1957 electric lighting and piped water systems were introduced to the Santiago del Teide area. The driving force behind this was irrigation to enable the growth of the tomato export trade, which was centered around Tamaimo. Santiago del Teide had 2,101 inhabitants at this time. |
1952 The first Taxi in the area, driven by Teodosio Gonzáalez Navarro of Tamaimo and registered in 1952. photo courtesy of Colectivo Arguayo |
In August of 1960 Juan Manuel Capdevielle from Navarro in NE Spain discovered the potential for tourism in the Los Gigantes area. Central Los Gigantes in the early sixties, the foundations are laid for the cobbled courtyards which lead off from the then un built Plaza Bouganville. TOP *** Back to homepage |
|
|
1970s The tourist village of Los Gigantes was created in the 1970s, in a previously deserted and barren area, predominately by British Nationals, and one can still see the predominately British influence there today. Los Gigantes is famous for the cliffs of the same same, which rise vertically from the sea to a dizzy 300 metres
|
| Playa de La Arena Beach Circa 1970, notice there is only a dirt track, the road had not been built at that time |
1973 Their majesties the King and Queen of Spain (then still prince and princess) officiate at the official opening ceremony of the Los Gigantes Hotel in 1973 (The hotel had been open to visitors since the late 60s) |
|
1975 The County of Santiago del Teide had 3.261 inhabitants by now. 1976 In 1976, when the ex-Spanish Sahara was retroceded to Morocco and Mauritania, many nationals turned back towards the nearby Canary Islands. |
| 1982 The Canaries became a comunidad autónoma (autonomous region) in 1982 |
 1992
The crest of Santiago del Teide is adopted by Royal decree
The nine triangles (nine "Mount Teides") represent the municipality's
nine villages |
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| 1988
Before
Adeje and Santiago del Teide formed volunteer fire brigades in the 1980s,
defences against fire were a haphazard affair. Villagers and townsfolk rallied round as best they could to fight the occasional fire in their communities and gathered in a spirit of determination rather than organised skills to tackle forest blazes.  The
Cruz Roja (Red Cross) organised the fore-runners of the Civil Protection
units that still assist firefighters and police at scenes of carnage.Assistance at road accidents was largely catered for by the placement every two kilometres or so along main roads of caches of simple medical supplies, bandages and the like. But it was from this community spirit of self-help that the volunteer firefighting forces sprang. In 1988 Artemio Cabrera Pinto-Martin formed the Santiago del Teide voluntary fire service (Bomberos Voluntarios) Before 1988 Artemio was a volunteer worker with the Red Cross and came to Santiago del Teide to found that organisation’s Civil Protection unit. He still remains in charge at age 66 (2004) and dismisses talk of retirement |
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May 2003
Pancracio
Socas beloved mayor of Santiago del Teide for sixteen years passed away,
due to a heart attack that he suffered during a political rally in Puerto
Santiago on the eve of the elections that would surely have returned him
as Mayor for a further term.
He was transferred to the green hospital in Las Amerícas in the south of the island but they were unable to save him. Don Pancracio was replaced as mayor by Juan Gorrín, deputy candidate for the Coalición Canaria party An act passed by the local council dated 24 of May of 2003, declared Pancracio a "Favoured Son" of Santiago del Teide |
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Programme
of events for the 500 centenary celebrations of Santiago del Teide
Saturday 4 October 2003 - Plaza del Casco- Santiago del Teide Town · 21:30 hours, Grand Folk singing and dancing Festival. On a stage which is to be set against the facade of the town hall .Taking part: Parranda de Cantadores and other Canarian artistes like Fabiola Socas, Chago Melian, Marivi Cabo, Perico Lino, José Manuel Ramos and the star attraction, Braulio. Produced by Producciones Oye. Sunday 5 October 2003 · 12:00 hours, Official reception for the President of the Canarian Government, D. Adán Martín Menis.at the town hall · 12:10 hours, Speech by the Mayor. · 12:20 hours, Speech by D. Adán Martín Menis · 12:35 hours, Award Ceremony for services to the county by various persons. · 13:15 hours, D. Alonso Díaz will unveil a statue by the sculptor D. José Abad in the Plaza Pública of Santiago del Teide town. · 13:30 hours, Rendition of the pasodoble “Islas Canarias” local bands |
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Compiled by D McGlone, any contributions or corrections most welcome. contact enquiries@losgigantes.com |
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77
AD The name "Canarias" was mentioned by Plutarque
and Pline the elder, before the islands disappear from western minds until
the 13th century, when they were rediscovered by european
navigators
13th
Century AD
1665-1668
Between 1665 and 1668 the “Casa del Patio”, the property of
the family of Hoyo Solózano, and perhaps the most historically
and architecturally important building in the Valley of Santiago, was
built. La Casa del Patio is found to the north of where the town of Santiago
del Teide lies today, it stood in a finca (smallholding or farm) that
was over 27,000 sq metres in area, which made up the manor of Valle Santiago.
1909
The last volcano eruption in Tenerife happened near the village of Santiago
del Teide at Chinyero on the 18th November 1909. The traditional Romería
of the volcano is still celebrated to the present day in May when the
statues of Christ and the Virgin are transported from the church of San
Fernando to the place where the lava flow from the last volcanic eruption
was diverted away from harming the populace. 
1930
1960s
Friday
3 October 2003 
·
20:00 hours, Audio-visual presentation of "500 years of Santiago
del Teide" held at the Grama Cultural Centre in Santiago del Teide
town.
A
touching ceremony held in the Plaza at Puerto Santiago - a posthumous
tribute paid to ex mayor of Santiago del Teide Pancracio Socas García.
The event which coincided with the 501st anniversary of the first
recorded date of occupation of the village of Santiago del Teide
was attended by Adán Martín, Lorenzo Olarte and other
regional and municipal dignitaries as well as Don Pancracio's family
and personal friend Pedro Rodriguez Zaragoza, Advisor of Agriculture
and Fishing to the Government of the Canary Islands.