One of the most interesting and emblematic buildings in Fuerteventura, with a great historical meaning as much for this majorera island as for the whole Canary Archipelago, is the colonels’ house; a feudal building, located in the malpaís of ‘La Arena’, in the outskirts of La Oliva, standing out not just because of its history but because of its architecture too.

It is a civic and military building that started to be built in the second half of the XVII Century, ruled by the Sánchez-Dumpiérrez family, and it surprises us because of its great dimensions, making a contrast with the desert landscape and the plains where it is located. The Sánchez-Dumpiérrez Family held repeatedly the office of Colonel of the Provincial Militias, which was held for life and it was hereditary. They created a military aristocracy extremely mighty, and they would dominate the island at the end of the XVIII century.

Why does the figure of the colonel have so much power in comparison to that of feudal lords?
Once that Fuerteventura takes part in the Catillian Crown dominions are established, and the family Arias de Saavedra held the title of Fuerteventura’s lords. The crown is aware that their power to control their own territories is weakening, as the lands are under the rule of lords that govern their own way. So, the crown decides to create a military regiment under the rule of a colonel that would take control of the island little by little. In 1708 the militia’s regiment is settled, and their colonel holds the office and duties of ‘Governador de Armas’; the mission of this office will be to undermine the power of the island’s lords.

First of all they take away their military power, and little by little colonels become the true landowners, ruling the island from their fortress houses: the colonels’ house. Fuerteventura’s lords lived in Betancuria, but colonels settle in La Oliva, so Betancuria loses interest, and political, economic and social development starts in La Oliva, living at that time its biggest splendour.

La Oliva becomes thus the most important major city in Fuerteventura; the colonel orders the building of La Oliva’s church (the biggest one in the island) and creates and important market; the first colonel even buys the sculpture of the ‘Virgen de la Candelaria’, thus undermining that of the ‘Virgen de Betancuria’. They became the richest family in the Canary Islands. The power the colonels got was so great that they started to live as proper lords- there was a splendorous social and artistic refinement. Among the payslips found in the house there was that of a pianist brought from France, which shows the refinement and artistic sensitivity they had. Painters of a great reputation went to this house and gave expression to portraits of La Oliva’s colonels.

The architectural complex of the Colonels’ house clearly shows the power that this family enjoyed. It is a building inspired in the rustic houses of nobility in the Canary Islands (like those that at that time were built in Tenerife’s Lagoon, but improved). It was made of several areas or buildings, each one with a different function: the main square, the cistern, the stables, the ceremony area, the agricultural area…. Within this complex you also find the doctor’s house, the chemistry, the administrator’s area, the carpenter’s workshop, the blacksmith’s… and in the central area, as a powerful castle, the building where the colonel and his family lived. Colonels get their full splendor in the XVIII C, but all through the XIX C. the new economic, political and social situations bring the military power in Fuerteventura to a slow deterioration.

Populations like Puerto de Cabras and Antigua gain importance as demographic segments. Colonels will lose their political and military power, not the economic one though, which they will keep even after the colonles’ office disappeared.

Nowadays The Colonels’ house is a museum that hints at the power that Fuerteventura held in the past.

FuerteCharter Team

During the XVII, XVIII and XIX centuries, one of the activities that moved the economic outlook in the history of Fuerteventura, providing a means to make a living for many families, was the export of lime to Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma.

There was, and still are currently, in Fuerteventura a large amount of limestone, which at high temperatures (900 to 1000C) becomes lime of two different kinds:

• “Albeo” Lime : used to whiten walls. It is an organic lime obtained from large sedimentary deposits of shells of marine animals. It is usually found by the coast. Higher temperature and longer cooking time is needed to get that king of lime.
• Chemical Lime or lime stone: it’s found in the interior of the island, a few inches deep, and is used for construction, to purify water cisterns …

Therefore, today we can find many different kinds of lime kilns. Some of the 300 that are estimated to have existed in the island have been restored, but by 1970  cement replaced this material, doing away with the office of the lime merchants, which began on the island around 1641.

Initially vessels that collected lime to export to the other islands anchored in ports such as El Cotillo, Caleta de Fuste and Ajuy, where there was no dock; then the loading of ships was very laborious, as lime cannot get wet, because if it does  its volume increases up to 50%. It had to be carefully transported by barge to the ships that once loaded journeyed to their destination, praying for the lime not to get wet, since an increase in volume could make the ship burst.

When it was discovered that the bay of Puerto del Rosario was much better, all activity moved to the capital, it turning, in the first half of the twentieth century, into “Puerto de la Cal”, where a number of  industrial sites were built, which employed a large part of the population of the time.

In the first 10 years of the twentieth century 70,000 tons of lime were exported.

In Fuerteventura two types of lime kilns are distinguished, depending on the dimensions and fuel used:

1. “Caleras” or domestic wood kilns: they predominated in the villages of the interior. Gorse, tamarisks and “matos” were used as fuel. They had a low production capacity per batch and the obtained product was destined to internal or domestic consumption. These kilns  used to be circular and their height did not exceed 4m.

   

2. Coal-fired industrial boilers: also called continuous furnaces, due to their production without interruption. They had a great capacity for lime production. They are usually rectangular and can reach 8 to 12 m high.  The ones in Hondura and “El Charco” in Puerto del Rosario stand out.

We must make special mention of Ajuy kilns, which cannot be included in any of these kinds, as they were holes dug in the ground, about 12 m deep and 3m in diameter, built in a small cliff by the sea.

The way to transport lime stone was with camels and donkeys in quarries baskets of about 10kg, and the tools used to extract them were: shovel, pick, hammer, wedge bar to pry the stone, “ el marrón”, to split the larger stone,  and a mace, to split the small stone.

Once limestone was carried to the kiln, they proceeded to fill it through the upper opening, a layer of rock interpersed with another one of fuel, until the kiln was completely  full.

The kiln was lit on the bottom, where there was another opening; dry and tight gorse were placed there, and then it was set fire. Thus, the fire reached the different layers of fuel, turning “caliche” into quicklime.

The cooking process of lime could take several days, even one week. The process ended when the colour of the smoke became white.

Lime was removed from the kiln from the bottom, moving or hitting the iron grid on which the stones, now transformed into lime, had lain and were now shredded at the bottom of the kiln.

Water was added to the limestone or quicklime after the end of its cooking, thus obtaining the so-called slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). This lime was ready to be loaded and transported.

Lime kilns in Lobos island.
In our neighboring Lobos Island, where we go on our daily boat trips, there were 4 lime kilns,  3 out of which have been preseverd : Atalaya Grande, Las Lagunitas and  Calera Kiln.

They are located in areas close to the coast, where there are organic limestone formations, coming from shells and skeletal remains of marine animals. Therefore, the lime that was obtained in the islet was “albeo” lime, used to whiten walls.

In our daily trips to the island of Lobos we tell our visitors about the Fuerteventura’s  history so that apart from living an unpaired marine experience, they leave our island with some more knowledge about it.

Team FuerteCharter

In our eagerness to make the wonders of this paradise, Fuerteventura,  known we can not ignore the oldest town in this island, and although our main passions are the sea and the boat trips around here, we recommend a visit to this town in the central area of the island:  Betancuria. Let’s get closer to the history of this island and specifically to this town, going back to the years of the conquest.

In 1402 Fuerteventura was invaded by the French nobleman Jean de Bethencourt (Norman from origin, he got in touch with the Castilian crown through a relative and he got the right to conquer the islands). However it wasn’t until two years later that Fuerteventura was finally conquered.

In 1404 colonization starts properly; with this purpose a capital was founded by the military man Gadifer de la Salle —who accompanied Jean de Bethencourt in the conquest— and by Bethencourt himself, whose figure would be honoured when the capital was named after him: Betancuria, placed in one of the most fertile areas inland —a green valley, sheltered from the winds— less vulnerable and more sheltered from the frequent pirate attacks the island’s coasts used to suffer.

This place had been one of the first settlements in this island, when their inhabitants were the Guanches.

From its foundation it became a capital and the governing centre of this island, and all the administrative and governing organisms of this island were historically settled there.

Betancuria kept its political and administrative importance for centuries, resisting several attempts of Berber invasions that devastated the capital in the middle of the XVI C. However, at the beginning of the XIX C its economical power was decreasing in favour of other populations that were quickly growing, such was the case of La Oliva and Pájara, until it became one of the less populated urban areas in Fuerteventura.

At the beginning of the XVIII C the military government moves to La Oliva, which meant the beginning of the end of the political monopoly that Betancuria enjoyed. But it wasn’t until the XIX C that economical, social, administrative, religious and political changes —due to the fall of the Old Regime and the economic boom of the eastern side of the island— weaken Betancuria’s power in favour of other urban centres like Pájara, La Oliva, Antigua or Puerto de Cabras (Puerto del Rosario nowadays).

Betancuria stopped being the only parish in the island (XVIII C) when those of Nuestra Señora de Regla (Pájara) and Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria (La Oliva) were created.

In 1834 the municipality of Puerto de Cabras is set up, independent from Tetir, and little by little the different institutions of the administration and the government get settled there, thus becoming the capital in 1860.

Nowadays Betancuria, with less than 700 inhabitants, is a touristic attraction because of its beauty, as it keeps being one of the most beautiful villages in this island, whose historical power is still reflected in some of its buildings.

Church-Cathedral of Santa María

It’s one of the main buildings in this historical capital that started to be built during the first years of the founding of Betancuria to cover the spiritual needs of the islanders. (The 10% of the agricultural production was given to the church, and the 20%, to the island’s governor). This Norman-gothic style Church-Cathedral suffered some Berber attacks and had to be rebuilt in the XVII C., though it still keeps some remains of the first church, like the belfry and some columns and, also worth mentioning, its baptistery, choir, and a Mudejar coffered ceiling.

The Hermitage of San Diego

Another characteristic feature of Betancuria is its hermitage, similar —regarding the stone and the whitewashing— to the cathedral. Beside it we find the remains of the Franciscan convent that together with the hermitage were originally a part of the first Franciscan convent founded in the Canary Islands.


We recommend a visit to the ancient capital of the island: in its streets, besides breathing the spirit of the conquest and the history of Fuerteventura, you will find local crafts, restaurants with typical majorero dishes … and enjoy one of the areas with the most vegetation in this desert paradise; as mentioned in the first paragraph, before knowing the  inland area, we highly recommend this boat trip from Corralejo, in which we are true professionals, where we’ll show you the experience of enjoying the sea and one of the wonders and most beautiful natural monuments  of this Canarian archipelago,  Lobos Islet. We’ll be waiting for you…

The islet of Lobos — where we go almost everyday on our boat trips from Corralejo to show tourists the charms of its coasts and waters— is where the literary artist Josefina Plá was born, the 9^th of November, 1903: she was the daughter of Leopoldo Plá, born to a family of natives from Alicante, and Rafaela Guerra Galvaní. Relating Josefina Plá to just one discipline is a hard task, as apart from being a poet, playwright, essayist, fiction writer and journalist she was also a well-known ceramicist, art critic and painter.
She was christened in Fermés Church and registered in Yaiza (Lanzarote), but her father’s profession, lighthouse keeper, made her leave the Canary Islands when she was only 5 on a tour around the Spanish geography and its beautiful coasts. So they lived in Valencia, Bilbao, and many other cities where she spent many years of her childhood and adolescence.
Culture was very important to her family, and this provided her with a most reliable literary basis and a great love for languages. Being 18 she had a command of French, English and she had some knowledge of Latin and could translate from German. Besides, her artistic side went beyond arts; she had stood out in some ceramic works, drawing and painting. In 1926 she met the Paraguayan ceramicist Andrés Campos Cervera in Villajoyosa, Alicante. He was internationally known as Julián Herrería, and she would marry him two years later, and then in 1927 she would settle with him in Asunción, Paraguay, a city where she spent the rest of her life and where she developed her whole career and developed all her achievements.
The arrival to this country that would adopt her was no bed of roses and she was rejected by a part of the Paraguayan aristocracy, who considered her as an “intrusive gipsy” and they were against her procedures. However this didn’t stop her from developing a rich artistic and intellectual production.
Josefina Plá is considered as one of the main representatives of the Generation of the 40’s, a fighter for human rights and one of the first activists of feminism in Paraguay, dame of the order of Isabel la Católica in Spain among many other distinctions, such as: member of the International Academy of Ceramics, located in Geneva, Switzerland; Bicentennial medal of the USA (1976); Ollantay trophy to the theatrical research, Venezuela(1984); Councillor in the Vice-Ministry of culture in Paraguay; National order of Merit in the degree of Commander in the Paraguayan Government (1994); Golden medal in Fine Arts in Spain (1995); award for her defence of human rights, by the International Society of Lawyers; member of the Paraguayan Academy of the Language, of the Paraguayan History and of the Spanish History; finalist in the contest of merits for the granting of the “Príncipe de Asturias” prize and also “Doctor Honoris Causa” in the University of Asunción (1981); nominated for the award of the “Premio Cervantes”, the greatest award for the Spanish Arts in the years 1989 and 1994, and that of honorary citizenship conferred by the Paraguayan parliament in 1998, among others.

Josefina Plá was a prolific writer, more than 60 published books what with poems, playwrights, short tales, essays, criticisms… she always believed that the best way to renew and enhance culture consisted of knowing how to combine research, creativity and teaching. So she set up the Municipal School of the Performing Arts, where she was teaching for twenty-two years, the centre “Arte Nuevo”, and the Museum “Julián de la Herrería”, and she also took part in the setting up of the Artistic and Literary group “Vy’a raity” (joy nest), whose main aim was that of taking the Paraguayan culture beyond its boundaries.
She passed away in Asunción, the 11^th of January, 1999, after a whole life working to bring modernity to art and literature in Paraguay, and she was a leader for many generations of artists and writers, which earned her the title that best defines her: “Dama de la Cultura” (the culture lady)

In FuerteCharter, by means of our boat trips from Corralejo, we don’t just want to show you the natural charm surrounding us in the island of Fuerteventura, but we also want to show the history of this little big paradise.

FuerteCharter Team