The Port

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Industrial architecture · Year: Siglo XVI

The port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has provided the city with a very important function in its historical development, having been, until relatively recently, the main point of connection with the outside world. From its beginnings, Santa Cruz established itself as a place of entry and exit. The Castilian conquerors chose its coasts to penetrate inland; later, the Santa Cruz pier became the most convenient access for communication with the island's main city: La Laguna. In the 18th century, the port of Santa Cruz changed from being a transit point inland to becoming a centre of important commercial transactions; then, in the following centuries, it definitively became the main economic axis not only of the city but of the entire island.

The first works to build a pier in Santa Cruz were carried out in 1513 on La Carnicería beach, located north of the mouth of the Santos ravine, a place already used by fishermen as a slipway and unloading point for their catches. But its poor location meant that the sea's onslaughts frequently ruined any improvements made. In the early 17th century, the construction of a landing place in a more favourable location was proposed. The Caleta de Blas Díaz was then designated, sheltered by a promontory on which steps were excavated to facilitate access for people and goods. Despite great difficulties, the Caleta pier served for more than a century and a half, although its construction offered few guarantees and it was immersed in an inhospitable coastline.

The definitive establishment of military commanders in Santa Cruz at the beginning of the 18th century gave a significant boost to successive improvements to the pier. Now there was the technical input of military engineers who immediately suggested relocating the pier, as the Caleta, now called the Aduana, did not have sufficient depth to shelter ships. In 1729, the construction of a breakwater starting from the San Cristóbal slab, opposite the castle of the same name, was proposed. For almost the entire century, intermittently, work was carried out on this new pier, which was definitively completed in 1787 under the supervision of military engineer Andrés Amat de Tortosa. This modest infrastructure consisted of a wide and solid breakwater perpendicular to the coast, topped by a crescent-shaped hammer that sheltered intertwined stairs facilitating disembarkation. Additionally, a water supply was provided for the ships, and a building was constructed for the pier officers. Finally, its access was paved to facilitate vehicular traffic.

In the 19th century, the strategic position of the Canary Islands within international maritime routes led European powers with colonial interests to use our ports as stops on their way to overseas possessions. The port of Santa Cruz became an important supply point, with European companies establishing themselves there to better control their interests. As the century progressed, the pier's capacity to accommodate the significant increase in international traffic diminished.

In 1847, under the direction of public works technician Pedro Maffiotte, the construction of a much safer new breakwater began. An innovative method of cut prisms was used for the construction of the breakwater. That same year, Francisco Clavijo arrived in Tenerife, the first qualified engineer in Roads, Canals and Ports, who proposed building strong breakwaters for protection against waves and currents, as well as sheltered areas for boarding and disembarking both passengers and goods, spaces for warehouses, commercial contracting centres and other services typical of a modern port. It was also proposed to extend the old pier in two sections: the first, about 75 metres long in a northeast direction, completed in 1863; and the second, 152 metres long heading north, forming an elbow with the previous one. Work progressed steadily during the last years of the 19th century thanks, on the one hand, to the location of quarries (first in Paso Alto and later in La Jurada) from which to extract the necessary material; on the other, to the transport of this material by means of a railway line (locomotive "Añaza"); and finally, to the use of powerful cranes ("Titán") to place it in the sea. A new impetus was the creation in 1907 of the Junta de Obras del Puerto (Port Works Board). In 1911, an extension of the outer breakwater was carried out, along with the construction of a new breakwater now known as the Muelle Norte (North Pier), under the technical direction of engineers Prudencio Guadalfaguara first, and Pedro Matos afterwards.

The concept of the port as we know it today arises from plans drawn up by Miguel Pintor in 1951, which designed the creation of the quayside piers (1951-1982), causing the original coastline of Santa Cruz to disappear in favour of obtaining a longer docking line; the La Hondura pier (1964) for refinery traffic; a fishing dock (1970s) for smaller vessels dedicated to fishing; and the East breakwater (1965-1983). In the 1980s, the Los Llanos dock (South breakwater) was undertaken, and more recently the Bufadero pier for exclusive use of goods and containers.

In short, the current port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife occupies 11 kilometres of coastline, which means the city has almost no sea frontage. A few years ago, both the Port Authority and the City Council agreed that the maritime façade should be an area where both port services and citizen enjoyment could be combined. To this end, new works and projects are being carried out to enable the recovery of space for public use, without neglecting the important economic role of the port.

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