This and that. That there is.

Month: November 2018

Tenerife 4

Now, I might have gotten my references mixed up, but this one should be a statue erected at the time of Franco’s regime. 

Francisco Franco was a dictator who ruled Spain for four decades and saw a victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936. (in no small part thanks to the aid from Hitler, who used the war to train his Luftwaffe pilots, and Mussolini who, well, wanted some glory)

The civil war being a bloody affair, it is no wonder that nations don’t like to talk about it. Therefore, we will skip that story, the only point here is that it was from Tenerife that Franco planned his coup. 

There’s a general disagreement on what to do with pieces of art originating in that time (there’s a law passed in 2007. condemning the regime, and art historians are somewhat divided on what to do with the works of art); I’m no art historian or art expert, I’m not a Spaniard and can’t say a thing about all of this, yet I somehow feel that art, no matter the context, should be preserved – not for the politics, but for the history. 

Visits: 122

Tenerife 3

What strikes me here is the mild climate creating a perpetual spring. The winter months are relatively warm, with night temperatures rarely going below a two-digit number and the summer months are hot, but there’s the ocean breeze that makes the life more than bearable. Walking this street in Santa Cruz de Tenerife I felt the calmness of a community that knows how to work and how to enjoy life. 

Visits: 119

Tenerife 2

The volcanic nature of Tenerife is easy to recognise: human settlements are either hugging the coast or lean against the steep slopes. Mount Teide, with its peak Pico del Teide at a remarkable height of 3718m above sea level dominates the island. It is an active volcano, yet it hasn’t even coughed for more than hundred years now. What we see on this picture, though, is not the volcano: the capital city Santa Cruz de Tenerife is safely away from the volcano.  Notice how the buildings are cramped together near the shore, avoiding the steep slopes but partially embracing them.  

Visits: 142

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