The City Council of Puerto del Rosario, through its Department of Culture, has taken a new step towards the recovery of one of the most emblematic heritage elements of the municipality: the old water tank of La Charca.
The councilman of the area, Juan Manuel Verdugo, visited on the morning of Wednesday, April 23, the space with the architect drafter of the project, Nuria Vallespín, on a day marked by the commitment to transform this historic enclave in a new cultural space for citizenship.
Built during the Republican era, the reservoir of La Charca stands out for its imposing basalt structure of 2,000 square meters of plant, divided into two separate vessels with walls a meter and a half thick and a total of 56 pillars. This infrastructure, which was ceded two years ago to the municipality by the Port Authority, symbolizes a key period in the history of Fuerteventura, where access to water deeply marked the development of the island.
In the words of the mayor, David de Vera, “this infrastructure is a good opportunity to increase public spaces that, once enabled, can host different activities of various kinds. Meeting spaces at social and cultural level to accommodate the many activities that are organized by the council or by the various associations and groups”.
“We are facing an impressive infrastructure that has been for years in disuse and that today we begin to revalue,” said the Councillor for Culture, Juan Manuel Verdugo. “This project not only represents a commitment to culture and heritage, but also a reflection on how Fuerteventura has historically struggled with water scarcity. We aspire to turn this space into a multipurpose cultural center that houses exhibitions, screenings and activities that connect our citizens with their historical memory.”
Architect Nuria Vallespín, for her part, stressed the uniqueness of the space: “It is a spectacular place for its architectural emptiness, which will allow us to provide Puerto del Rosario and the whole island with an exhibition center that recreates how water was captured and distributed in the 1930s. It is also an opportunity to open the citizen debate on what cultural uses we want for this new water museum”.
The project includes the drafting of the basic and execution plan, as well as the development of the electrical, sanitation, air conditioning, lighting and waterproofing installations, in compliance with the Technical Building Code. With an initial budget of 12,840 euros, financed with municipal funds, the objective is to opt for future European investments to undertake the rehabilitation works. The Department of Culture is working to make this new facility become a cultural reference in the capital of Majorca, while claiming the value of industrial architecture as an essential part of the legacy of the municipality.
This project reinforces the commitment of the City Council of Puerto del Rosario with the recovery of the historical heritage and its active integration in the cultural life of the capital of Puerto del Rosario.
