The General Directorate of Culture and Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the Cabildo of La Palma, has initiated the cataloguing campaign of the island's industrial assets. The old Yanes Warehouse, in Tazacorte, is one of the most unique properties included in the register.
Doctor in Art History Amara Florido has explored the corners of La Palma to document the vestiges of its industrial past. The fieldwork, which began weeks ago, has focused on the Yanes Warehouse, a complex built in 1925 at the entrance of the port of Tazacorte that operated as a packaging centre for bananas, tomatoes, and sugar, and housed a distillery for alcohol.
A Catalogue that Closes the Map of the Archipelago
With this campaign, La Palma becomes the last island to join the regional inventory of industrial heritage, initiated in 2009 by the Government of the Canary Islands. The aim is to gather data on the history, use, conservation status, and recovery possibilities of unique elements with historical, technological, social, architectural, or scientific value.
The General Director of Culture and Cultural Heritage, Miguel Ángel Clavijo, explained that the document "is the first step towards the management, protection, conservation, and dissemination of such fragile and invisibilised assets". He also pointed out that the information "is not only relevant at an administrative and legal level but also for the citizens", as it reflects "the recent socioeconomic history of the archipelago".
The Yanes Warehouse, a Gem of Insular Heritage
Expert Amara Florido highlighted that the Yanes Warehouse "is one of the most important and unique assets of the industrial architectural heritage, not only of La Palma but of all the Canary Islands". The property, owned by businessman Armando Yanes, was an economic engine for decades and today is part of the collective memory of the Valle de Aridane.
Among other registered elements, Florido has identified a chimney from an old soap factory in El Paso and an aerial cable built in the 1930s to transport banana crates from the upper part of El Time to Tazacorte. The specialist emphasised that in La Palma, assets linked to export agriculture predominate, although there are also "a large number of mills, bakeries, and carpentries in the Valle area".
Institutional Support and Public Projection
The Culture Councillor of the Cabildo of La Palma, Miriam Perestelo, valued the collaboration with the Government of the Canary Islands and stated that the initiative "represents a unique opportunity for the island, as it will allow us to know and protect a heritage that is an essential part of our identity". For his part, the mayor of Tazacorte, David Ruiz, thanked the regional Executive for "the recovery and rehabilitation of the Yanes Warehouse as a symbol of our people".
The project is framed within the Law 11/2019 of Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands, and the results will be published next year in a book that will be available to the public. The residents of La Palma will thus be able to discover the remnants of their industrial past, from sugar mills to banana facilities that marked the island's development.
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