Road Workers' House on the Taganana Road

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Industrial architecture · Year: S. XX

The figure of the road worker was very important for quite some time. Their role was to care for and maintain state-owned roads and highways. As public employees, they had a salary assigned, as well as housing for themselves and their family, always located at the edge of the road they were responsible for. 

The first road worker we have record of in Tenerife was Juan Bueno, who from 1756 was in charge of the road between Santa Cruz and La Laguna, with his residence established at the height of the then newly inaugurated Zurita bridge.

The Road Workers' House on the Taganana road, which still stands today, is located on the outskirts of the village of San Andrés, at the edge of the road that leads into the Anaga massif.    

The building is a modest single-storey construction with characteristics framed within the typology of Canarian popular architecture. It has a tiled roof and a façade with wooden door and windows. It was possibly built in the first half of the 20th century, when the road section between San Andrés and El Bailadero began to be developed.  

Currently, this property is owned by the Cabildo de Tenerife. Although it has been unused for several decades, its state of conservation is quite good. Various local associations demand that the house be used for different social purposes to benefit the most needy residents of Anaga.

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