Lazaretto

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1784

The lazaretto was for a long time an important part of the prophylactic system of the port and, therefore, of the entire island, due to the frequency with which epidemics reached our coasts.

The city of Santa Cruz, from its very origins, maintained a hard struggle against the epidemics carried by the ships that called here. Hence arose, very early on, the need for a good health inspection at the port, and a place to accommodate the infected to prevent contagion of the rest of the population.

The result of the visit by health authorities to suspicious ships was either the granting of permission or, on the contrary, the prohibition of the vessel entering the port. In the latter case, the ship could choose between turning back to take another route or undergoing quarantine. Passengers suspected of carrying disease had to gather initially at Puerto de Caballos, south of the city, and remain there under surveillance. This rule, later called lazaretto, was first known in the Canary Islands by the name degredo , derived from Portuguese meaning "decree". The isolation lasted 40 days and travellers were given new clothes and washed with vinegar.

As there was no proper place at first, they stayed in caves or poorly built huts, but at the beginning of the 18th century the Cabildo improved the facilities by building a small structure south of the Castle of San Juan, always far from the populated centre.

In 1784 the Cabildo rented a recently built building nearby by Bartolomé Rodríguez Montañez, originally intended as a fish salting facility. It was located about 200 metres from the Castle of San Juan and was arranged internally around three courtyards: one for visitors, an intermediate one to establish contact with due precautions, and the third for those interned.

The property was purchased in 1842 by the Health Board. In 1860 it was declared an observation lazaretto, undergoing numerous interior reforms and often serving as a hospital when the modest health centres in the city lacked sufficient beds. From 1890 it had a disinfection stove and in 1911 it was handed over to the Town Hall.

By the mid-20th century, once out of use, the municipal landfill was installed around it, which for years housed all the rubbish produced by Santa Cruz, forming an artificial mountain with the accumulation of waste. Today this mountain, fully rehabilitated and adapted as a public space, houses the interesting Palmetum park.

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