Author: Daniel Hernández

The Camino Real had to overcome a multitude of obstacles to connect the south

Connecting the island’s capital with the area of Abona required overcoming the deep ravines, steep slopes and arid wastelands of the south of Tenerife. This was also the case for the Carretera General del Sur, which reached San Miguel de Abona in 1940.

The part of the road between Granadilla and San Miguel was built between 1934 and 1940. From here you can see, a little further up, the bridge over the Barranco de la Orchilla ravine, the completion of which marked the arrival to San Miguel. The new road gradually replaced the Camino Real, leaving it without its commercial use and relegated to a fast road for communications on foot.

At this point, the Camino Real crosses the Barranco de la Orchilla ravine, whose name refers to a lichen that has been prized as a dye since Roman times: the orchilla (Roccella canariensis). In the Canary Islands there are about 13 different species growing on coastal cliffs and ravines exposed to the sea. It is unlikely that the “orchilleros” worked in this middle area of the ravine, less influenced by the sea breeze, but their risky activity baptised, forever, this steep ravine that separates Granadilla from San Miguel.

This viewpoint offers a panoramic view of the history of Abona

This viewpoint offers a wide panoramic view of the Abona region that allows us to understand how the settlement developed. While the Camino Real ran through the midlands, other roads connected each locality with the coast and their respective natural wharfs.

The agricultural estates and the houses of the new settlers spread along these roads. The hamlet was built around the original Guanche settlement of Chiñama. The name Charco del Pino appears as early as the 16th century, as the name of the place, in allusion to the puddle or “ere” of the ravine, located a few metres from here at the bottom of the riverbed.

With the arrival of the water from the Canal del Sur, the jable orchards became more productive. Potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco and, later, greenhouses and flowers, followed one after the other in this rural landscape and generated significant wealth. Today the main activity in the region is tourism and the services associated with this important industry. Agricultural activity is also maintained, with viticulture playing an important role and playing an essential role in maintaining the landscape.

The water of Chiñama provided the village with water to drink.

The nucleus of Chiñama and Charco del Pino, like so many other pagos and villages in the Canary Islands, developed in this place because there was water available for the settlement of the population. Some say that “Chiñama” is a Guanche word meaning “fountain” or “mountain of water”. Later, the settlement adopted another name: “Charco del Pino”, which also points to the availability of water.

There is no doubt that the Guanches inhabited Chiñama, as the archaeological finds in the ravine and around the mountain show. They used to pass through here with their livestock to drink water from the pools in the ravine. Later, the peasants, monks and fish sellers also followed the Camino Real here in search of water.

In the Chiñama ravine there is an “ere” where water was obtained in times of drought. It is a deep hole or well in the basaltic rock, covered by the sand carried by the riverbed. A large quantity of water is stored there underground. In times of drought, the local people dug small holes in the sand so that the water would rise by capillary action, allowing them and their animals to drink.

The Pinito wayside shrine survives the hacienda where it was born

In 1725, the ensign Pedro González del Castillo began the construction of this small private chapel on his family’s estate in Chiñama.

The work was completed in 1731, but the first feast in honour of the Virgen de las Nieves, to whose name it is dedicated, was held in 1727.

Inside, the Mudejar coffered ceiling and the Moorish decoration of the ceilings stand out. The building has three semicircular arches, eight large windows and on its pediment are engraved the symbols of San Pedro: the tiara or crown and the keys. To this day, the pilgrimage in honour of the Virgen de Las Nieves is still celebrated every 5th August.

At the rest stops, strength was replenished to keep going.

Along the Camino Real there are different religious manifestations: crosses, calvaries, hermitages and resting places.

The latter were places used by funeral processions to stop on their way to the cemetery. In the past there were no roads, communications were carried out along the Camino Real and mainly on foot.

The resting places are located at the edge of the road and are marked with crosses known as “cruces de las ánimas” (crosses of the souls). There was a stone or a flat, raised wall where the coffin could be placed. The coffin bearers rested and were given food and wine by their relatives to replenish their strength. Meanwhile, prayers were also said for the soul of the deceased.

The products of the region circulated along the Camino Real

The royal roads are so called because they belonged to the crown, although in the Canary Islands they depended on the island councils. They had to be seven metres wide, fenced off and zigzag across the slopes, but not all of them met these minimum requirements. Many were simple bridle paths, about two metres wide, on which two beasts of burden could barely cross.

The main products of the region were transported along the Camino Real, on the back of beasts or in carts pulled by cows, mules, donkeys and even camels. This was the case with tobacco, the cultivation of which spread through the fields of Granadilla at the end of the 19th century. This American plant brought by Christopher Columbus soon became naturalised on the islands, although it was not allowed to be grown freely until 1836.

A few metres from here is the Granadilla tobacco drying shed, built in 1878 by José García Torres, one of the most important tobacco growers in the region. Its strategic position next to the road facilitated the arrival of the raw material. At that time, a deep green covered the terraces and the aroma of tobacco filled the air near the drying shed.

The perch of the last vultures on the island.

“Guirre” is what the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnoterus majorensis) is popularly known in the Canary Islands. It is a species of vulture that flew over the skies of Tenerife until well into the 20th century.

The abandonment of agriculture, poaching, poisons and, in general, the change in our way of life, caused the gradual extinction on the island of a symbol of our countryside.  Fortunately, nowadays, a significant number of them survive on the islands of Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and the Chinijo archipelago.

The guirres played a fundamental role in our natural environment. As good scavengers, they were responsible for clearing the countryside of carcasses, preventing the proliferation of rats and diseases that could affect livestock and even ourselves.

In Tenerife, it is still remembered by the oldest people. Throughout our territory there are many places that allude to its former presence. Breeding or roosting sites, such as this place where you are right now: the Pino del Guirre. A place where the old inhabitants used to see our old vultures perching.

The Las Vegas pine forest was an important source of raw materials.

The magnificent pine forests in the south of Tenerife were tremendously exploited for the wealth contained within the old pine trees.

The Canary Island pine became an extraordinary natural resource when the high quality of its inner wood was discovered: tea. This heartwood, a product of the concentration of the resin inside the tree, produced an enormous demand for the construction of large civil, military and religious works, as well as for obtaining pitch, a product in great demand for the caulking of ships.

The pine forests became important productive areas and were overexploited. Large areas were lost, especially the oldest pines, which were the ones that produced the greatest amount of firewood. In the interior of these pine forests, in some lost place, lie the remains of a kiln used to obtain the pitch that was exported to ports and shipyards.

The hybrons or jibbons came down this way

The Canarian term hibrón or jibrón refers to the timbers placed parallel to the pairs of a roof frame to receive the planking.

However, on the islands of El Hierro and Tenerife, by extension, it refers to any kind of timber.

This nucleus and road probably get their name from the transit of wood from the pine forests of the high midlands, destined for construction. Pine wood has been widely used in the construction of ships due to its water-resistant characteristics.

In the surroundings of Los Hibrones there are many vestiges of an important agricultural past: the large threshing floor next to the road, the fountain and the washhouse, the fruit pastures and ovens, and even a tile oven. All of this next to numerous cultivation terraces that are still in production, surrounded by the pine forest that characterised the area.

The legacy of the Canarian fig trees

This district of Granadilla de Abona owes its name to one of the most appreciated trees in Canarian agriculture.

The presence of the fig tree dates back to aboriginal times, long before the conquest of the islands, as ancient accounts and archaeological studies confirm.

Figs played a fundamental role in the diet. They were eaten fresh and dried in the sun on racks and in ovens to preserve them for consumption during the winter. Fig trees were so valuable that until the last third of the 20th century they were recorded in wills and property documents.

In this area, fig trees must have been very important or there must have been an outstanding example. In addition to the neighbourhood, the Fuente la Higuera, the Montaña la Higuera, the Camino la Higuera and the Barranco la Higuera bear their names.