San Andrés Cemetery Restoration Nears Completion After Community-Led Fight

The San Andrés cemetery, known locally as Traslarena, has stood for 132 years, holding the history and memories of the community. Located beside Las Teresitas beach in Santa Cruz, this unique cemetery is being restored after years of neglect due to disagreements between local authorities and residents of the fishing village.

In 2023, after the community fought to protect the cemetery, the Canary Islands Government and the Santa Cruz City Council agreed to work together to restore it as a place of remembrance. Work began last June, including repairing the chapel, building a visitor center, and adding a plaque with the names of those buried there. The project is expected to be finished by the end of the year, allowing San Andrés to reopen this special place.

The cemetery is relatively small, about 60 by 40 meters, and is enclosed by a low wall. From the outside, you can see rows of wooden, marble, or iron crosses marking the final resting places of the community's ancestors, buried under ash-colored earth. The chapel, which was recently at risk of collapsing, has been repaired, plastered, and painted, bringing hope to the site. According to Marcos Cova, a spokesperson for the El Pescador de San Andrés Neighborhood Association, a large advertising sign behind the chapel "will be removed soon."

Cova, who helped lead the community effort to involve the Canary Islands Government and the City Council in the restoration, is pleased with the progress after "132 years" of neglect. The town of San Andrés has been requesting this since 2018.

"The neighborhood association started a campaign in September of that year to save the cemetery, collecting donations from residents to replace over 170 crosses. Local carpenters did the work, and then neighbors volunteered to paint the crosses, clean the cemetery, and even repair damaged tombstones."

In September 2023, the Anaga district council of the City Council joined the project, contacting the Cultural Heritage department of the Canary Islands Government for assistance on behalf of the neighborhood association.

Cova recalls, "We received a call from Miguel Ángel Clavijo, the area director, and told him we were going to work on the chapel's exterior the next day because it had large holes in the walls that needed immediate attention to prevent collapse. A couple of days later, we met with officials at the cemetery to show them the problem and the community's dedication to preserving this important place."

This meeting was successful. On November 1, 2023, a large community meeting was held with the Canary Islands Government, where the Traslarena restoration project was announced. Cova says, "That meeting was a milestone because, for the first time in over 130 years, the people of San Andrés sat down with the government to secure the future of our cemetery, away from the City Council's past interest in demolishing it in the 1970s." Now, the residents are eagerly awaiting the completion of the work, checking and photographing the progress daily. "We are excited to see our beloved cemetery restored to its former glory after a long fight to save Traslarena. It's a big step and a victory for everyone," Cova adds.

The reopening of the restored cemetery near Las Teresitas beach will include an exhibition and the publication of a book titled "The Traslarena Cemetery: A history of struggle and resistance in San Andrés," which tells the story of the cemetery and its unique history over the past 130 years.

Traslarena was established in late 1893 during a cholera outbreak in Santa Cruz that spread to San Andrés. Around 40 residents died, and to prevent further spread, the community decided to bury the bodies outside the town, near the beach. This led to the creation of the cemetery, which gradually became the main burial ground for the coastal community. Additionally, many of the 77 victims of the Flachat ship sinking off the coast of Taganana on February 21, 1898, were also buried in Traslarena. As the cemetery grew, walls were built in 1911 to protect it from the tides, and in 1930, a small building was constructed to serve as an autopsy room and chapel. On January 13, 1976, the Santa Cruz City Council attempted to close the cemetery, but residents protested and guarded the site day and night, demanding proper solutions and a well-maintained cemetery. This struggle led to Traslarena being declared a historical heritage site. Since then, the cemetery has suffered increasing deterioration, including desecrated tombs and floods that have washed away crosses and tombstones. The abandonment of burial sites by some families also contributed to its decline.