No hikers allowed on Mta Tindaya without an official guide

[Archer]

Thanks Tamara. We have been in the exhibition at Casa Alta a couple of times. They probably spent the 2millions on that giant rock drill/sample and model, and on that wall outside. It took ages to build. Haha.
Shame they still ban everyone from the mountain. I think they blame vandals for damaging the podomorphs.
Thanks for the bar Gonzalez recommendation. We'll give a go next time we are over that way.

Great review.

[erik_tonny]

Tindaya no se toca !

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Tindaya no se toca !

 
Thanks for your post - echoes my thoughts.

For general info, even though you shouldn't be climbing Montaña Tindaya at present, there is a very nice walk on a track around the base. Takes 45-60 mins depending on photo stops or getting side tracked to look at abandoned wells etc! Park near the old Football stadium or there is a small car park up a track behind Los Podomofus restaurant. Keep your eyes open for a sight of a guirre - often seen around here.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

An article in RTVAC today:

Opinion Article Andrés Briansó. 


Tindaya again, always Tindaya
It seems to surprise some of the firm determination of our group (We Can Fuerteventura) to remain faithful to our ideas and principles represented by the continuity in this effort to defend the Mountain of the Witches.

We must necessarily highlight the fundamental role of groups and people who have not stopped in a struggle that has been dragging for several decades and that symbolizes the Mountain Coordinator of Tindaya.

In this healthy stubbornness we underline again the natural values of this heart of an ancient volcano, a cone of sacred trachyte that is already considered a Natural Monument, as well as a place of national interest, point of geological interest and a handful of figures of protection.

Its immense cultural importance, reflected in its archeological richness as the place with the highest concentration of rock manifestations in the form of podomorphs, also underlines the importance it had in the world of ancient mahos.

Unfortunately, the most recent history of Tindaya is the story of a looting, and knowing this we cannot pretend to avoid this part or the responsibilities derived from the river of public Money dedicated to a nonexistent work.

But we believe that the time has come to end the Chillida hole project. The reasons have been widely exposed and debated, the social response in favor of the mountain and against the exploitation of its strong entrails, without counting that the artist himself is already dead for two decades or the guarantees that a mining project of Those characteristics could be realized.

And above these reasons is that it is simply not necessary, no dressing is necessary, the monument already exists.

The objectives set, pending development in a participatory manner through the contributions of the Coordinator, go through:

• Prioritize the conservation of the fragile ecosystem and the reservoir, which would go through the study of a narrower delimitation of the BIC and surveillance measures.


• Dissemination of heritage, by preparing a respectful path and enabling visits in small groups and in a guided manner.


• Research, there is still much to discover, the remains are numerous: swollen stones, cups, stacks, ceramic remains in the mountain itself and throughout the environment.


• Casa Alta, traditional building located in the village configured so far as an exhibition of the unrealized project. We have closed temporarily to turn the content into a visitor center that shows existing values and serves to raise awareness of its preservation and knowledge.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

From Radio Sintonia.com, early July 2020.

The Fuerteventura council has installed a set of signs temporarily prohibiting access to the Natural Monument of Tindaya, with the aim of protecting the Site of Cultural Interest from the rock carvings located in that area.

This temporary access restriction will remain until the execution of the museum trail project planned by the council. The visit to the BIC of the rock carvings is temporarily limited, since there is currently no conditioned path, marked and designed to guarantee the total protection and conservation of the set of podomorphic engravings existing in the natural monument.

In compliance with its powers of protection of cultural heritage, the Ministry plans to carry out a project for a path that respects the environment in Tindaya that allows the dissemination and visitation of the BIC, making it compatible with the public visitation with its protection and conservation .

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

From Radio Sintonio.com

The Mountain of Tindaya studied by Arqueocanarias. The Government of the Canary Islands from the General Directorate of Culture recalls that La Montaña de Tindaya (La Oliva, Fuerteventura) is home to what is possibly the largest concentration of podomorphs in the world. The presence of cave engravings has earned it its declaration as a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC), which is why it has the highest level of protection and recognition, although only in the upper part of the mountain.

Comprehensive study

The general direction of Cultural informs that the Arquoecanarias company is expected to carry out a comprehensive study for the protection of all archaeological and ethnographic assets contained in this unique space. This is the response to the request made by the Cabildo de Fuerteventura, so that all the archaeological and ethnographic elements enjoy this recognition and protection through the figure of BIC. If so, the extension of the delimitation may be promoted to the extent deemed necessary, completing and integrating all the values of Montaña de Tindaya, or another new file is initiated for the same purpose.

Along these lines, the general director of Culture Nona Perera stresses that these are “relevant actions to adequately measure the exceptional value of this complex, as well as to be able to resolve issues of great importance historically for the Canary Islands, such as the origin of their aboriginal settlement. . Only through correct documentation will it be possible to carry out an appropriate interpretation and an adequate value ”.

Study outside the BIC

This study contemplates the superficial prospecting of the mountain and the bordering plains to locate the different archaeological and ethnographic elements existing in the mountain and in the lower elevations, especially in those areas located outside the space already delimited as BIC. The topography of the identified areas and elements will also be carried out, as well as aerial photography of the sites with a drone to complement the topography and general and detailed photographs. Finally, it will also provide a diagnosis for exhaustive knowledge of the degree of conservation and the real and potential conditions to which the heritage assets associated with the venerated mountain are exposed.

The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage promotes both projects in order to increase knowledge about the rock manifestations on the island of Fuerteventura, through the study of the site; digitally document all the existing podomorphic engravings in Tindaya as a strategy to favor their long-term conservation; catalog all podomorphs and establish a first typological characterization; advance in the correlation between those of Tindaya and other podomorphs located in other parts of the planet; and contribute to raising awareness of the importance of protecting the rock record, making visible an exceptional heritage.

Modification of the current BIC or new file

In parallel, the comprehensive study will assess as a whole and individually all the archaeological sites and elements present in the mountain, including its base and adjacent surroundings, accompanied by a good corpus of plans and archaeological drawings that allow to conclude the relevance or not of modify the current delimitation of the BIC of the mountain of Tindaya, or contemplate a new BIC file.

In summary, the aim is to advance in the investigation, conservation and protection of a heritage as exceptional as it is exposed to its deterioration and disappearance, solving relevant and new questions for archaeological research in the Canary Islands and applying new methods of analysis. It remains to materialize the restoration and conservation of the honeycombs, pending concluding the contracting of the already drafted project.

It is planned to carry out all the work both in the field and in the cabinet in 5 months, although the expected duration is conditioned by possible movement restrictions derived from the measures imposed to fight COVID-19.

3D scanning of more than 224 podomorphic engravings

We are faced with a sensitive and fragile heritage, seriously threatened, which demands urgent actions of comprehensive documentation capable of ensuring its survival, therefore, in parallel to the 3D digitization of more than 224 podomorphic engravings, distributed in 111 panels, the department headed by Nona Perera has commissioned the 3D documentation of the panels intervened by the aboriginal population.

Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry is a recording technique for rock engravings that allows documentation to be carried out without the need to maintain any type of physical contact with them, which undoubtedly guarantees their best long-term conservation. The use of this non-invasive technique is not only respectful of the well-documented but also ás offers much more objective results, while saving work time compared to other non-invasive systems of a systematic nature.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

All places taken for 23rd. I've signed up for 30th.
There's another similar thing Re Los Mahos on 6th Oct. 
Never used Zoom before, I've added it as a plug in to my Outlook. Don't know if I can record and have never put anything on YouTube but from reading the blurb it looks like it will be available online shortly anyway. 
It'll be good practice for my Spanish!

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Well, I joined the Zoom lecture with no problems but despite having all my audio options set to the maximum I found the narration quite quiet. Only 43 participants in this week's event. I understood very little of what was said, only picking out odd words and phrases, but I had expected that. For a great deal of the hour the only visual was a repeated 360º from the top of the mountain, quite interesting but filmed on a not particularly nice day, so not good or very clear visibility. I was viewing on a laptop, goodness knows how the people viewing on a phone felt! There were then a variety of pics of the various podomorphs situated on the mountain, some pics had a scale showing, but too small to read the characters on it, so pretty useless. The most interesting item for me was a picture that was shown fairly near the end - I thought about taking a screenshot, hooray! - so it is my only evidence and I'd love to know it's significance if anybody knows?
The screen showed that it was recording but I don't seem to have anything on my laptop. To be honest I wasn't over impressed but that is probably due to my poor Spanish language skills meaning I was relying on pics rather than narrative. Perhaps when they upload it for public consumption they'll add a language option. Glad I gave it a go though.



The following was published in several online news outlets today (RadioSintonia.com etc):

The Minister of Education, Universities, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuela Armas, announced this Tuesday that the Executive will urge the Cabildo de Fuerteventura to process the declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) for the entire mountain of Tindaya, not only for its peak, as it happens now.After defending this heritage all my life "I just got excited", the deputy of Sí Podemos Francisco Déniz, who had asked about this matter in the plenary session of Parliament, has answered the counselor.Déniz has claimed that Tindaya is "the epicenter" of a large archaeological park that allows preserving the cultural remains left there by the Majorero ancestors.The deputy of Sí Podemos has affirmed that in previous mandates, the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de Fuerteventura, "not content with being promoters of the disaster" that, in his opinion, was planned in Tindaya, managed to limit the BIC delimitation to the podomorphic engravings of the summit, when "the support of that archaeological wealth is the whole mountain", he has defended."This progressive government must resolve, once and for all, this sad story," he demanded.The counselor has responded to the deputy that the Government maintains the same criteria regarding Tindaya, whose podomorphic engravings have been protected since 1985, but the rest of the mountain was left unprotected.She has indicated that reports have been commissioned to advance the protection actions and a project has been drawn up for the restoration of the rock panels in the mountain, in addition to their digitization in three dimensions.When, soon, the Government of the Canary Islands has the reports it has commissioned, the Cabildo Majorero will be urged to initiate the file to declare BIC to the entire mountain, the counselor has announced.According to Déniz, "if in two months from the end of September, the Cabildo Majorero does not initiate the protection file, the Government of the Canary Islands can do so."

Tamara: let's hope this can finally be put to bed shortly. 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

I've found out what the pic is about. I asked Bernie Powers (local history guru) and he told me it was a Tagoror. Quick description: Guanche council chamber!

https://www3.gobiernodecanarias.org/medu...le=Tagoror

One was situated at the base of the mountain, hence it's inclusion in the lecture. No sign of it today. There is the remains of another one on a hilltop nearer the coast that was also (or later) used as a goat pen and/or threshing area.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Visited Bar Maria in Tindaya today for my coffee as my 'local' (Bar Gonzalez) is closed on Mondays. I browsed the walls while it was brewing as they have a lot of local history pictures etc on display and felt disgusted with myself for not having noticed a particular one before - it has the picture of the Tagoror!