El Tanque Secures Funds to Preserve Historic La Alhóndiga Granary
El Tanque receives nearly €43,000 from the Tenerife Island Council to preserve the historic La Alhóndiga granary, a vital 17th-century structure and Site of Cultural Interest.
El Tanque Town Council has received nearly €43,000 to help look after and maintain a historic building.
The money comes from the Heritage Department of the Tenerife Island Council, who say it will help ensure the building's historical importance lasts. El Tanque officials say the funds will be used to preserve the building's most important architectural features.
Esther Morales, the mayor of El Tanque, said that this type of funding is vital to preserving and valuing cultural assets, ensuring they are passed on to future generations. She added that cooperation between institutions is essential to keep historical heritage alive and accessible to everyone.
In the 17th century, important economic activity in Tenerife towns often centered around everyday places like laundries, churches, or granaries. In El Tanque, the granary, called La Alhóndiga, was particularly significant. Declared a Site of Cultural Interest, it was once the central meeting point for residents. Supplying grain to the population was crucial, and visiting this historic building was a regular part of life. Now, over 200 years later, preserving La Alhóndiga as a piece of the town's heritage is essential.
La Alhóndiga played a key role in El Tanque's social and economic development. Originally built as a communal granary to provide grain for residents, it later served as a community storage space, a temporary church, and a general meeting place for the town. Located in the historic center of El Tanque, its architecture reflects the area's agricultural traditions, daily life, and the heritage built by its inhabitants.
Today, La Alhóndiga is used as a cultural center. The two-story rectangular building features thick stone and mud walls, a roof with four slopes covered in Arab tiles, and wooden doors and windows. Next to it is a former communal threshing floor, completing this historically important site.
La Alhóndiga is located within the same protected area as the Church of San Antonio de Padua, which is also a Site of Cultural Interest. After the volcanic eruption of 1706, which destroyed the port of Garachico, La Alhóndiga, originally intended for grain storage, also provided shelter for residents, as much of El Tanque was also destroyed by lava.