La Paz Cinema

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1928 · Authors: Pelayo López y Martín Romero

This was the first cinema built around Plaza de la Paz, where there were at least half a dozen buildings intended for film exhibition.

La Paz Cinema was inaugurated in 1928, initially as an open-air cinema, occupying warehouses and a plot intended as a goods depot located on the edge of the road to La Laguna. The following year, in 1929, the place was completely renovated and roofed under a project by the architect Pelayo López commissioned by the businessman Ramón Baudet.   

 The La Paz Cinema building, with its opulent eclectic façade, was set at a chamfered corner facing the square, between the Rambla, the old road to La Laguna (later General Mola and currently Islas Canarias) and the Asuncionistas. Inside it had a large hall combining a long stalls area with a huge gallery (“gallinero”), the latter with reduced price. The total capacity of the hall was 577 spectators.

This cinema was a predominantly popular venue intended for re-screening films already acquired by the owner Baudet. It remained active until 1973, and the building was demolished shortly afterwards to make way for housing and commercial premises.

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