The Refinery

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Industrial architecture · Year: 1930

The Tenerife Refinery was the largest industrial complex on the Island throughout the 20th century, and as such, it became a major factor in local economic development.

Inaugurated in 1930 by the company "Compañía Española de Petróleos" (CEPSA), it provided employment for thousands of Canarians from across the social spectrum over the decades: chemists, engineers, doctors, industrial experts, accountants, administrators, specialists, skilled workers, labourers, etc.; becoming a true driver of the economy.

In 1929 the Primo de Rivera government created the company CEPSA with the intention of taking charge of crude oil import and refining, deciding for strategic reasons to build the first oil refinery in Spain in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The choice of location was based on three main factors: land with expansion possibilities, accessibility and proximity to crude oil unloading points and shipment of processed products, and a guaranteed supply of water in sufficient quantity to meet the needs demanded by an industry of this type. The chosen land was located to the south of the town, less than a kilometre from the Cabo neighbourhood, relatively close to the port and with possibilities for future expansions as it was, at that time, a completely isolated place.

On 19 April 1930, the CEPSA delegate requested a licence from the town hall, presided over by García Sanabria, to install the industrial complex; plans signed by the architect José Blasco were attached. Construction work was undertaken in just eight months. The inauguration of the Refinery took place on 26 November 1930.

Throughout its history the Refinery increased its business and production due to the demand for fossil fuels vital for the functioning of society at the time. Gradually it expanded its perimeter. The La Hondura dock was built for its exclusive use and special pipelines were made for water conduction, a very important element for its operation.

By the mid-1970s, the complex had reached a refining capacity of 173,000 barrels per day, allowing the production, distributed among five distillation units, of: petrol, naphtha, kerosene, fuel oil, lube, gases, spray oil and asphalt. It reached 14th place among the 150 European refineries of the time, with a capacity of 15% of Spanish production, supplying petroleum products not only to the Canary archipelago but also to the Iberian, African and American markets.

Years later, faced with a drop in crude demand, the company's activity gradually declined. In the 1980s the city, in its growth towards the south, came to surround all the industrial facilities. From this point on, problems began between the Town Hall and the Refinery; not only due to the stagnation of urban growth but also because of increased concern for citizen and environmental safety.

In 1996 the industrial complex was subject to a landscaping intervention for improvement and beautification through the so-called Project for the Integration of the CEPSA Refinery into the urban landscape of Santa Cruz , carried out by the architectural firm Díaz-Llanos and Saavedra, in collaboration with the artist José Antonio García Álvarez. Fuel tanks, ponds, chimneys and other industrial devices transformed their serious metallic grey colour into cheerful patches of bright colours.

In the last decade of the last century, the Refinery freed up land for the city, enabling the construction of a new commercial and residential expansion area, known as Cabo-Llanos.

Currently the industrial complex still occupies a considerable and important plot for the future of Santa Cruz. For years it has been the subject of debate regarding its conservation, possible relocation, or definitive dismantling.

In 2014 the Refinery definitively suspended its crude refining activity, switching to storage and distribution functions.

On 31 January 2022 the Government of the Canary Islands gave the green light to the total dismantling of the industrial complex, which will move a small part of its warehouses to the port of Granadilla. The total dismantling works of the Santa Cruz Refinery began on 23 May 2022. It is expected that the land will be definitively made available to the city in 2025.

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