Barranco del Hierro or Alfonso XIII Battery

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

This military battery, now disappeared, was established in 1898 to the south of the city's coastline, on land now occupied by the Refinery. Its installation was carried out due to fear of a possible American invasion following the loss of Spain's last colonies.

The military enclosure occupied a large area acquired by the State from private owners on the right side of Barranco del Hierro, hence its name. The battery was installed on a small plateau above sea level. In 1901, once fully completed, it was officially known as the Alfonso XIII Battery, in honour of the then Spanish king.

Its appearance, clearly military in function, stood out for its large enclosing wall with a huge entrance gate. Inside, several rooms were spread across the terrain, among which four semicircular compartments stood out that initially housed howitzers and, during the Second World War, four long-range cannons.

It was a site of executions during the Spanish Civil War.

The battery was definitively disarmed at the end of the 1950s, its grounds being occupied by the industrial facilities of the Refinery.

28.45142, -16.26388