San Carlos Battery

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1898

This was another of the defensive military installations erected at the end of the 19th century, in response to the American threat during the historical context of the war for the last Spanish colonies (Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines). 

The San Carlos battery was located on the southern flank of the city, on wasteland situated about 33 metres above sea level and 350 linear metres from the seashore.

Construction began in 1898 and little is known about its morphology, only that it occupied an area of 27,515 square metres, of which 4,428 were occupied by the construction. It must have been very similar to its contemporary María Cristina battery, built with the same purpose on nearby land.

The San Carlos battery was active for decades, but soon became framed by the enormous facilities of the Refinery, an industrial complex that definitively acquired it in 1960 to demolish it and occupy its space with new oil tanks and various warehouses for machinery and fuel.

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