Las casas cuevas

A settlement with basic resources for life

Since pre-Hispanic times, the ravines were places where nature provided much of what was necessary for human subsistence: water, shelter and food.

If you look closely, on this hillside opposite, you can see a form of dwelling that was very common until recently: the cave-house. The geology of the area facilitated this type of construction, which forms part of the traditional culture of the south of Tenerife.

Two important infrastructures also pass through: the “Canal del Sur” and the “atarjea del Consuelo”.  The first comes from the heights of Fasnia and runs for 73 kilometres, bringing water to the entire south of the island. The second, more modest, brings water from the Galería El Consuelo in the El Río ravine, the municipal boundary between Granadilla and Arico.

The cave-houses, the canals and the tajeas or atarjeas speak of the search for survival in the inhospitable south of the island, making the most of every last resource in the territory.

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