Tenerife’s Abandoned Leper Colony: A Relic of Outdated Healthcare Policy

The history of Spanish healthcare architecture is often defined by buildings that became outdated before they were even finished. The Abades leper colony in Tenerife is a prime example of this. A recent study of the site highlights how it stands as a relic of mid-20th-century policies that relied on physical segregation to manage leprosy in the Canary Islands.

Construction on the complex began in 1941, following a 1944 ministerial order, to address an urgent health crisis. At the time, the San Lázaro Hospital in Gran Canaria could not accommodate the more than 200 patients in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The plan for Abades was to create a self-sufficient facility—complete with medical, residential, and religious services—to keep patients far from urban areas. However, the rapid development of antibiotics in the late 1940s made forced isolation unnecessary, and construction was abandoned in 1946.

The site’s history since then has been one of administrative limbo. After decades of sitting empty, the Ministry of Defense took over in 1981, using the grounds for military training until 2002. The land was then purchased by the investment group Playa de Arico. While there were ambitious plans to transform the site into a luxury resort with hotels and golf courses, the Cabildo’s Historical Heritage Service and a local tourism moratorium blocked any development.

Today, the "ghost town" is a popular spot for curious visitors and film crews, with many of its original structures still standing. This abandonment contrasts with the modern reality of the disease: while leprosy is no longer a major public health crisis in Spain, the Carlos III Health Institute reported ten new cases in 2025. These patients, ranging from 23 to 70 years old, serve as a reminder that while the era of the isolated sanatorium has long passed, the disease remains a sporadic clinical challenge linked to global endemic areas.