Cavalry Barracks and Stables

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Historic sites · Year: 1898?

Very little is known about this disappeared barracks intended for the cavalry branch that was located in the Buenavista neighbourhood, on the edge of the road that went up to La Laguna. Perhaps the ruins that we can still see today very close to the rear where the Tenerife Cinema once stood and which later became the Yaiza Borges Cinematograph, are part of the barracks complex; they were possibly the stables.

The first news about a barracks dedicated to cavalry in Santa Cruz is found at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1715 the general commander Marquis of Valhermoso ordered the construction of facilities intended for mounted troops very close to the Castle of San Cristóbal, on the site that would later be occupied by the Customs House. This cavalry regiment barely survived throughout the century. In the 19th century, by royal order of 16 February 1877, a mounted section was created within the Company of Provincial Guards of the Canary Islands, whose function was to maintain public order and protect people and property.

Perhaps the now disappeared barracks in the Buenavista neighbourhood was built as a result of the rearmament experienced after the loss of the Spanish colonies in 1898, when the Canary Islands were exposed to a possible threat. We know for certain that the building was already erected in 1904, as it is recorded that a squadron with 120 horses was housed there. We also know that this group of hunters was dissolved in 1926. Ten years later, after the outbreak of the Civil War, the building served as a detention centre for political prisoners before the Fyffes concentration camp was set up.

Little more is known about these facilities. It seems that once its military use was abandoned, the barracks disappeared and the rear part was used for a time as a carpentry workshop until its definitive abandonment.

Today what remains are just ruins that give us an idea of what the enclosure might have been like with its large gates, thick walls and what is supposed to have been the area for horse training.

28.46646, -16.267069