INTRODUCTION
Puerto del Rosario is hardly two centuries old. As it is the administrative capital city, it is also a reference for commercial, industrial, cultural, leisure and tourist issues..
From the Sea Promenade and along this avenue, we can reach with the audioguide Playa Blanca in a few minutes by foot. There, we will find a 800 metres long beach with fine golden sand, characterized by the weather and peace that can be enjoyed in Fuerteventura. The open-air sculpture park, made up by more than 100 works, decorates the streets with their beauty and creates a very peculiar cultural environment.
The municipality of Puerto del Rosario extends from the east coast to the west coast of the island. To the north it borders on the municipality of La Oliva and to the south on Betancuria and Antigua, whereas to the east and west its coasts are bathed by the Atlantic Ocean.
The population of our city is around 40 thousand inhabitants and its main activities are based on tourism, trade and the service sector. The agricultural and cattle raising activities are concentrated in the rural areas. The fishing activity develops essentially in the coastal areas, such as Puerto Lajas, Los Molinos and Puerto del Rosario.
SCULPTURE PARK
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1. The Lookout Man. Emiliano G. Hernández, (bronze, 2003)
The statue we first see with the audioguide represents the fisherman scanning the horizon of Puerto del Rosario in search of the silhouette of a sail, the shape of a boat carrying the fruits from the sea to the port. It is a tribute to those who did such a tough job in the origins of the city.
It is a tribute to the worker that, in other times, awaited the arrival of the coasting traders to take care of the port duties as a supplement of their home finances.
2. Conches. Juan Bordes (cast aluminium, patina finish, 1999)
This collection of sculptures we can see with the audioguide is made up of four sea molluscs of big size and represents the links between our city and the sea. They were located by the author along the sea promenade, providing the tourist or the habitual pedestrian with an amazing - but at the same time placid - meeting with these suggestive elements.
3. Esplanade fountain. Amancio Glez. (bronze) / Nicolae Fleissig (granite) (2003)
It is located in the most important part of the city centre, where the maritime mercantile hustle and bustle was initially the centre of all the activity in the village. It represents the atavistic Majorero (related to Fuerteventura) world, the fieldwork, the stonework, the fisherman spreading his nets, the woman and mother prevailing in the society as an integrating mainstay.
4. Overseas luggage. Ed. Úrculo (bronze, 2000)
The next statue of this audioguide is a tribute to the round-trip migration phenomenon. This is the testimony of the Majorero who emigrated in other times and that today receives a whole multicultural community in his own land. It is a nostalgia picture of the traveller and his luggage loaded with memories.
5. Viejas fisherman. J. M. Cubas (granite, 2003)
Wearing a hat and barefoot, he carries a palm basket on his back, which is used even today to transport the capture and the fishing tacks. The vieja - a type of parrotfish - is very common in the islands and is served fresh or jareada (dried in the sun). It meant an important complement to the family diet and an addition to the island economy. The vieja is still a delight in the cuisine of our islands.
6. Stonechat. Maximo Riol Cimas (cement and steel, 2001)
The audioguide shows us a statue that represents one of the gems among the Majorero birds. Its scientific name is saxicola decotlae and constitutes an endemism in the island of Fuerteventura. That is why it is included in the Catalogue of Endangered Species of the Canaries, under the category of “vulnerable”. Its tiny size is the counterpoint to the colossal aspect that the artist gave to its work.
7. Canary hound. Emiliano G. Hdez. (bronze, 2001)
The Canary hound is a type of dog used in rabbit hunting, as it adapts to any tarrein and has high smelling, visual, and hearing skills. The hound is one of the oldest dog breeds known. It may have come to the Canaries at the hand of Phoenicians, Greeks or Carthaginians. We can find representations of its beautiful figure on the pharaonic tombs of many European museums.
8. Crushing corn. J. M. Cubas (Bermeja stone, 2003)
Corn was one of the most important elements in the insular diet, as it was used to make gofio - roasted sweet corn flour - through a toasting and grinding process. It was also crushed and milled, which was a task accomplished by women, since they were in charge of the family diet. It required an effort to obtain the basic flour to elaborate frangollo, a delicious dessert of our islands. More statues are on our way with the audioguide.
9. Offering to the Sea. Demetrio Martin (granite, 2004)
The next statue we can find with the audioguide is located in the middle of the sea promenade of Los Pozos. Again, this selected conch invites the walker to a meeting with the sea, regaining the maritime vocation of the city. This kind of conch or bucio was used by the Canary aborigines as comunicative element, since it gives out a deep sound when blown skilfully.
10. Manuel Velázquez. Emiliano G. Hernández (Bronze, 2003)
1863-1916. He was a wortly majorero: as a Deputy of the Spanish Parliament, he became the driving force behind the Cabildos law in 1912, by which the Cabildos became the true organs of insular government. He is an important figure, which nowadays is praised and reappraised as father of the politic-administrative model of the islands, by which they are represented and given autonomy in a same context of nationality.
11. Miguel de Unamuno. Emiliano G. Hernández (Bronze, 2006)
On 20th febraury 1924 the Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera ordered the suspection of the Greek professorship that Don Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo held in Salamanca, as well as his thismissal as bice chancellor in that University and sent him into exile in Fuerteventura. His stay in the island and his living with the majoreros meant an important change in the cultural life of Puerto del Rosario. His influence still remains throught his everlasting interpretation of the Island Identity and there is a constant recognition to this writer, professor and philosopher of international stature.
12. Monument to the unity. Fco. Curbelo (Stone, 1999)
This is a tribute to the multicultural reality that the island is undergoing. It is an enthusiastic reflection and a bet on the integration of the different people coexisting in the same vital space. The monument we can admire with the audioguide is the representation of tolerance and engagement, which are crucial to get common goals.
13. Siroco. Ernesto Knorr (weathering steel, 2001)
Siroco is the strong hot wind blowing from the African continent, generally carrying dust or sand.The author highlights this natural phenomenon as an identifying feature of the island, expressing its power throught the strenght of the sculpture.
14. The water carrier. Emiliano G. Hernández, (bronze, 2002)
The water carrier delivered water from the common tank to the houses of the inhabitants of Puerto del Rosario with the only aid of a stick and two tins with capacity of ten or twenty litres each. He was seen in the streets of our town until the end of the 60´s and he was photographed by Enrique Nacher among olders in 1957. He still remains in the memories of the majoreros as a nice figure.
15. Tribute to Suso Machín. Silverio López, (bronze, 2002)
Let's follow the audioguide and find, seated near the pigeons in the square that so many times he depicted, this tribute representing this popular painter, who portrayed repeatedly our town under its former name Puerto de Cabras in the 30´s. He was also a writer, who compulsively put down experiences and memories of that time. The church of 1824, the Cabildo, the Dirección Insular del Estado or the old Hotel Fuerteventura - which was Unamuno´s dwelling during his exile in 1924 - are silent witnesses that shared that time with the artist.
16. The Goats. Emiliano G. Hernández, (bronze, 2004)
They constitute the emblem and link of the majorero with his remotest past. This collections of the sculptures is located in the square devoted to the first Mayor of Puerto del Rosario, and states the former name of the town and municipality until 1956. It is an undeniable recall to its aboriginal past, as in this place the goats where watered next to the gambuesas that existed until the beginning of the 20th century.
PLACE OF INTEREST
Unamuno Dwelling-Museum
It was the hotel where the writer and philosopher Don Miguel de Unamuno lived during his stay in the island in 1924. The rooms allow us to know the places and objects that the writer used in his daily life. Furthermore, this museum we can visit with the audioguide introduces us to its poetic work and explains the intense relationship that he built up with the island, in which an important part of his lyric work was born.
Lime kilns
The domestic lime kilns prevail in the rural villages and farmhouses, and the industrial ones are present in the coast of Puerto del Rosario and in Los Molinos. The main product obtained in these kilns was lime, which was exported to Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma. The most relevant kilns are located in the areas of Los Pozos and El Charco in Puerto del Rosario, and in La Hondura to the north of the city.
Our Lady of the Rosary Church
It is located in the centre of Puerto del Rosario and dates from 1824. It consists of only one nave covered by a gable tile roof, with stonework corners and two vestries attached to both sides of the main chapel. Going inside with the audioguide, we can admire an altarpiece recently made, which is a copy of the first altarpiece that this church had once.
Juan Ismael Contemporary Art Centre
This centre of contemporary art and culture bears the name of the important surrealistic artist Juan Ismael Mora (1907-1981), born in the island of Fuerteventura, who developed his activity mainly in the fields of painting and poetry.
The centre boasts two exhibition halls, a lecture hall, a documentation centre and a pedagogic department. Especially actual art expositions, art workshops, series of conferences related to art and contemporary issues take place here.
Bluehertz Audio guides has developed for Puerto del Rosario´s town hall an audio guide service avaliable in Spanish, English, German, Italian and French languages..
Puerto del Rosario´s Tourist Office address: Avda. Marítima, s/n 35600 Pto. del Rosario (Fuerteventura, Islas Canarias).
- Tel.: 928 850 110 - turismo@puertodelrosario.org - www.turismo-puertodelrosario.org -
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