Santa Cruz de Tenerife Restores Iconic Snowman Sculpture
Santa Cruz de Tenerife has restored the iconic Snowman sculpture at the Los Majuelos roundabout, replacing its fallen nose with a lighter version as part of a broader plan to transform the area into a recreational space.
The iconic Snowman sculpture at the Los Majuelos roundabout in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is back to its original look. On Thursday, March 12, the city council replaced the sculpture's nose, which had fallen off last October due to weather damage.
The new nose is a much lighter replica, weighing only 10 kilograms compared to the original 80. This change was made in coordination with the artist, Jirí Georg Dokoupil, to make future maintenance and anchoring easier.
While fixing the nose, municipal crews also restored and repainted the sculpture’s broom, which had started to rust. The cauldron, however, was in good condition and did not need any work. These repairs are part of a larger plan for the area. Javier Rivero, head of the Department of Infrastructure and Heritage, confirmed that the sculpture will be part of a 4.5-million-euro project to transform the Los Majuelos junction into a recreational space featuring an athletics track. The project is expected to be finished before the end of the current term.
The Snowman’s history in El Sobradillo is a story of changing public opinion. Commissioned in the early 1990s after Dokoupil designed the 1987 Carnival poster, the sculpture was initially met with intense criticism over its cost and appearance. For years, it was frequently mocked and even voted one of the country’s least-liked public sculptures in 2018.
Over time, however, it has become a familiar local landmark. As the surrounding area has grown to include the Hospital de Dolores and the Tenerife Insular Athletics Center, the Snowman has evolved from a controversial art piece into a defining, if still debated, part of the Santa Cruz landscape.