Isy only had one simple request concerning our time in the Canary Islands: to spend one whole day in a relaxing, seaside town. Looking around the island and weighing our options while planning this trip, I found the perfect little village awash in white stucco, with beautiful red brick roofs and pretty laneways. There was beach access, handsome open-air restaurants salty from the nearby sea, along with sprawling vistas stretching out in every direction. |
And yes, there was even a giant abandoned leprosy sanatorium right above this place. Making Abades just the perfect destination! |
That's not to mention the nearby lighthouses as well. I could have done without the sea and the beach myself, but when you combine our desires, it was all here. These two structures are the Faro de Abona lighthouses, there being another village a few kilometers to the north named Abona. The first lighthouse was the lantern atop the keepers house, constructed in 1902. The second lighthouse is the tall cylindrical tower, constructed in 1976. |
Not everything was as perfect and celebratory as it may seem. While walking away from our lodging and over to the lighthouses, we passed the edge of the sanatorium and to my dismay, there were Spanish soldiers with Humvees and fatigues, practicing military drills in and around the buildings. Of all the days they could be here and the odds of it being this one day I have in Abades in the Canary Islands, I couldn't believe my luck. This was certainly a new one. |
Peering into the keeper's house, the inside looked nicely renovated and I dreamed of this place being on AirBNB, where we could rent it and sneak over to the abandoned buildings at night after the military left. (As it turns out, this keeper's house was in disrepair until very recently, when the building was then given to the local town of Arico to be renovated into a restaurant school.) |
Prior to leaving our accommodations, we'd picked up some beer and snacks at the local shop in anticipation of relaxing in the ruins and enjoying the day. Seeing as the military was running these drills though, this building foundation would have to do instead. It's a good thing I'm always happy to lounge and bullshit atop a building foundation. |
There was no rush to post up by that foundation as it was still only high noon and a very sunny and windy day. We'd head back to town and come back in the evening. It's this decision that led us to walking back near the sanatorium and deciding to push our luck with getting close and playing the clueless tourist card if the military dudes grew upset with us...except as we were passing the church, four tourists who looked like they were about to hit a Days Inn hotel pool, popped out of the building and were bumbling about. Meanwhile the military dudes were further off and paying no mind. |
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And then there was another pair of tourists looking like they just left a waterpark! This was all I needed to see to realize that the Spanish military doesn't demand a 100km safety radius around their exercises and activities. |
So okay, okay. This will do, this will definitely do. Of course part of me was tempted to portray this like we were super elite, brazen international explorers who dodged Spanish soldiers to explore these super protected buildings, haha. That would have been gold when The Weather Network or Narcity stole the story without any research as they do, and then the locals would be like, "wtf, is this chichón talking about? You can walk right in there in flip flops and board shorts!" |
This sanatorium was started in the 1940s during the onset of leprosy. Tenerife had 200 leprosy cases alone and without any treatments or cures, the best bet was isolating the sick along a remote coastline, far from the major cities of Tenerife. This led to this complex of 40 buildings being built, with buildings such as a hospital, church, dining hall, dorms and a crematorium. The only thing is that treatment with promin was introduced in the 1940s and the curing antibiotic dapsone came soon after. Therefore, the buildings here were never used by those with leprosy and many weren't even completed. |
Following a couple of decades of vacancy, the sanatorium was then used by the Spanish military for tactical exercises and training in urban warfare. Following four decades of that usage, a group of Italian investors bought the property and planned a 3000-room hotel with two golf courses. Except that plan failed within a couple years, leaving this place to ruin and a location for parties and paintball. |
I don't know what the deal was with the Spanish military still being here today, but now it was funny to see them cruising around and doing their thing in the other buildings. |
As for us, we were posted up in the church with some adult beverages, enjoying the gorgeous weather and laughing when people would come in and didn't notice us sitting up in the choir loft. |
About an hour later, it was time to head into town and grab lunch. |
A worn, short trail led downward, and sitting on the tiny patio out back of some restaurant, we could see the sanatorium's church just up the hill. Did I mention this was the perfect seaside village? About the only complaint I had about Abades was that it was totally phony and only constructed in this style as a housing development in the 1980s. On the other hand, this was a lesson in not always sacrificing everything for authenticity, as we loved Abades and it was great to have a lighthouse and leprosy sanatorium reachable via a short walk. |
Following lunch, there were still a few hours before sunset and we had something besides abandoned buildings on the itinerary. I'd noticed going into this trip that almost all of the beaches around Tenerife were marked in Google Earth with ratings and reviews, much like herbs do with abandoned buildings in America and Canada. Well, just one small cove over from the seaside in Abades was the Playa Cardones which, reading the reviews I discovered was a nude beach. How European! Seeing as I've never went to a nude beach with anyone before, I figured this would be an opportune time to check off another life experience. |
Today wasn't going to be the day for such activities though. It was unbelievably windy and both of us agreed that high winds and stinging airborne sand wasn't ideal. Sadly accepting this and wading about in the waves, the wind actually did us a favour as a group of middle-aged women crested the hill, soon followed by another family. It says that this is a nudist beach online, but everyone seemed to be treating it as just your average beach with no one removing their clothes. This had the makings of quite the misunderstanding if it wasn't for the wind. |
So the beach didn't eat up much time and we were soon up the hill and towards another ruin, this time it looked like a failed restaurant or bar. (Old reviews state how they loved the bars and restaurants near the nude beach, so that's what this building must've been.) |
It wasn't all that exciting inside. Lots of drywall and standing water. |
We decided to round back and head through the thick of the sanatorium buildings, popping in here and there. |
We went into another handful of buildings, but found almost nothing interesting inside besides the graffiti. One of the fun modern things is how so few people care about putting themselves on blast for trespassing anymore - so people write their dumb Instagram handles and you're free to see who came before you. Whereas back in the day, you'd see people's tags and vague internet posts, leaving you to try and figure out who these people were from a mix of reports from friends, imagined facts and assumptions. |
It was soon time to head back to the compound and dinner. Abades was a great place to stay and after one more night, Isy was on the early bus in the morning and I was left with a couple of goofy flex hours to simply mull about the rented room. |
Soon enough my bus came and I was left with another couple of hours in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The bus station was right next to the iconic Adán Martín Auditorium and I knew I had to utilize these couple of hours to ride, as it wouldn't be long before I was back in the icy grips of wintry Newfoundland. Except that I went to put my bike together and following the installation of the handlebars and seat, I plucked out my back wheel and realized my tire was flat. Well, that settled that. |
At the airport, I hilariously had the best meal of my entire time in Tenerife - a simple Carne Fiesta, that was just cooked so well and properly spiced, that I was embarrassed with how much I was enjoying a bowl of fries and marinated meat. If you find yourself at the Tenerife North Airport, grab one of these from the little bar after security. You won't regret it. |
Waiting for my plane, I basked in the sunlight of this gorgeous day. This airport is actually the site of the worst aviation accident in history when two 747s collided and killed 583 on board on March 27th, 1977. Thankfully today wasn't foggy at all, but that accident resulted in everything from the practice of everyone using English as a common language, to having to say back key parts of instructions instead of just "Roger" or "Ok", to the fact that flights are no longer run as an exercise where the captain knows best and you never challenge them. Anyway, it was now time to board my flight back to Morocco and utilize the couple of weather-related buffer days which were now for adventure instead. |
