El Toscal

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Squares, streets & markets · Year: S. XVIII

The El Toscal neighbourhood is one of the most important and popular in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Its significance lies not only in being one of the largest areas in the capital, but also in having maintained, against all odds, its deeply rooted identity as a settlement for humble and hardworking people.  

El Toscal is located in the northern part of the urban conglomerate of Santa Cruz. Its boundaries are: to the north, San Isidro street and the Almeyda barracks; to the south in its lower part, Juan de Padrón street, in the middle area Puerto Escondido, and in the upper part Dr. José Naveiras street (this entire route coincides with the course of the Barranquillo de Guaite, now underground); to the west, the Rambla descending towards Anaga avenue; and to the east, the urban façade bordering the port.

The area was originally called Los Toscales or Las Toscas, as it was part of an extensive plot of land somewhat elevated above sea level where limestone tuffs predominated, better known as toscas. These few orchards with some crops and many wastelands were, in the 17th century, the property of the Párraga family. 

The neighbourhood began to form at the beginning of the 18th century when the streets of La Marina, San Francisco and San Juan Bautista were extended northwards, crossing the then-called Barranquillo de los Frailes. During this century, single-storey houses and some agricultural estates occupied the territory, marking the important rural character that the area maintained for quite some time. A map from around 1750 shows that urbanisation at that time reached the course of the San Antonio ravine, which today runs beneath the street bearing its name and the Callejón de las Bodegas, in its final stretch.    

It was during the second half of the 19th century, with the growth of the port, that El Toscal became one of the main peripheral neighbourhoods of the city. The large population of humble condition who arrived seeking a better life settled in miserable dwellings and in almost half a dozen citadels, where hygienic and sanitary conditions left much to be desired. As an alternative to this situation, some years later, new groups of houses were built that were much better equipped and, although with very simple structural layouts, had the basics for a dignified life. Single-storey constructions, somewhat deep, with a side or rear patio, predominance of flat roofs and a façade scheme based on a central door and two windows.

This improvement was added to in 1899 by the establishment in the neighbourhood of the first school group erected in the entire city. Contemporaneously, some buildings of relevance were also constructed, both with eclectic aesthetics and, already in the 20th century, rationalist tendencies, which since then have marked the interclass system of the neighbourhood. 

After the Civil War, the western part of El Toscal was urbanised with the construction of buildings bordering the Rambla and the Méndez Núñez area. During the 1960s and 1970s, with the entire neighbourhood built up, a brutal building change was undertaken, replacing much of the old single-storey houses with apartment buildings, dramatically increasing the area's population density. The last decades of the previous century were marked by abandonment and decline, with the consequent ruin of many of the old buildings. 

In 2007 El Toscal was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Asset of Cultural Interest), with the category of Historic Ensemble. A Special Integral Plan (PEI) was established, with the consequent preparation of a protection catalogue. The aim was to maintain homogeneous environmental characteristics, putting a stop to strong speculative ambitions. 

In recent years, numerous old houses have been restored and adapted. It is hoped that a new intervention consisting of pedestrianising several streets and removing a large number of surface parking spaces will improve urban quality.    

The El Toscal neighbourhood, so linked to the history of Santa Cruz, has shown magnificent resilience over the years. Today it presents itself as a characteristic urban ensemble that, against all odds, has remained firm against the various threats it has faced since its origins: epidemics, substandard housing, lack of basic services, urban speculation, abandonment and other varied problems; but the neighbourhood, despite everything, is still there, with its transformations and changes, but alive and kicking.

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