Bocher Inn

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1785?

The Bocher Inn was one of the first decent places in Santa Cruz where one could eat and sleep at an affordable price.

The establishment was founded in the 1780s by the Frenchman Jean Françoise Bocher, who arrived in Santa Cruz as the private cook of the general commander Marquis of Branciforte. This shrewd character quickly realised the good business opportunity in setting up a venue offering lodging and board to the growing number of outsiders arriving at the Santa Cruz port from various parts of Europe on their transatlantic crossings. 

Bocher's inn was located in the lower part of San José Street, very close to the city’s dock and the splendid promenade that was being built there at the time. It offered its customers food, bed, room, light, cleanliness and decorum; the latter being something that the few private houses then renting rooms by the day and providing food to occasional visitors could not offer. To distinguish himself from these almost clandestine businesses, Bocher even applied for a licence to place a shiny sign outside his establishment to give it the appearance of a serious business.

We do not know how long Bocher's inn operated. Perhaps it ceased when Branciforte left the Islands on leave in 1790, taking his cook with him. But what we do know is that the legacy of this inn was not forgotten, as by the early 19th century there was at least one other establishment of this kind in Santa Cruz.

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