Road to San Andrés

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Squares, streets & markets · Year: 1881

Land communication between Santa Cruz and the coastal town of San Andrés was very difficult until well into the 20th century, given the orography of terrain crossed by large ravines and enormous cliffs. For this reason, the most frequent means of transport between the two points at that time was by sea.

Since ancient times there was a winding and dangerous path that, skirting slopes, climbing mountains and descending to the coast, connected both centres. Already in the 17th century, for obvious strategic reasons, a trail was undertaken that connected the urban centre of Santa Cruz with the Paso Alto fort. In later centuries it was extended, although its state of deterioration was always constant, whether due to numerous landslides from the area's escarpments or the strong sea tides during storms. 

It was not until the mid-19th century, with the newly created Junta de Obras Públicas (Public Works Board), that the construction of a proper road began to be considered. In 1872, the town hall requested the government to build a road connecting Santa Cruz with Taganana, passing through San Andrés. The project was approved in Madrid in 1881, auctioned the following year and started on its first stretch in 1887. Work was carried out intermittently for years and finally, the long-awaited road reached San Andrés suitably in the third decade of the 20th century, although since 1901 it was already passable but unpaved. In 1921 a branch towards Igueste was approved. The stretch to Taganana was not completed until the late 1960s, with the construction of an expensive tunnel.

The current dual carriageway with two lanes in both directions running parallel to the sea between Santa Cruz and San Andrés was built in the 1970s, leaving from then on the old road that climbs among cliffs and fords ravines as a clear vestige of the enormous effort made against an inhospitable orography.

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