Tenerife Group Challenges Heritage Status of Franco-Era Monuments

The Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory of Tenerife has intervened in Santa Cruz’s public consultation on cultural heritage, highlighting a growing conflict between preserving architecture and following the Democratic Memory Law. The group aims to align municipal urban planning with national laws that prohibit the glorification of the dictatorship in public spaces.

The controversy centers on the Monument to the Fallen in the Plaza de España. The association argues that the City Council’s proposed level of protection for the structure violates current law. They are calling for the monument to be temporarily removed from the heritage catalog until a plan is created to either remove its dictatorial symbols or reframe the site to strip away its celebratory nature.

The association is also targeting the General Serrador Bridge, requesting the removal of similar symbols and the addition of plaques to provide historical context.

Beyond these changes, the group wants to expand the heritage catalog to include sites they believe have been overlooked. Their suggestions include the sculpture 'La Ida,' which honors those repressed at the Fyffes concentration camp; the remains of the Barranco del Hierro Military Battery, a site of postwar executions; and the Cueva Roja enclave, which is linked to the events of July 18, 1936. Through these efforts, the association hopes to ensure legal compliance while reshaping the city’s landscape to include the memory of victims in its official history.