Despite not being one of the emblematic places on the island, Argana Alta hides in its entrails part of the origins of the Tourist Centers. And it is that, in one of the warehouses located in the neighborhood, some of the objects that have been part of its history and that the workers themselves have been rescuing are hidden.
According to an employee, it was "six or seven years ago" when Toñín Ramos, who was then head of maintenance of the CACT and was about to retire, decided to collect, in a room of a few square meters inside the warehouse for repairs that the Tourist Centers have in the Arrecife neighborhood, different utensils and furniture that had fallen into disuse and that the employees had been recovering over time
"Our intention was to have part of the history of the Centers somewhere", says this worker, who explains that, until that moment, no one had worried about it. And it is that, although he affirms that "there were old things that had been kept in the Tourist Centers themselves", he points out that "many were badly kept" and that others "were never kept because they were damaged" or because "no one gave them importance".
The first glasses from Jameos or ceramics by Juan Brito and Marcial de León
Thus, on shelves arranged along a wall, different objects that have been used in the Tourist Centers throughout their history began to be grouped, among which are some examples of the first glasses that were in Jameos del Agua. Some blue and orange glasses, of two different sizes, that the maintenance workers found "in a room, in one of the works that Jesús Soto did to make the Casa de los Volcanes".
Pieces of a tableware with half a century of life already in disuse or others that were used in the Tourist Centers in the 90s, all of them white but differentiated with the logo of each center to which they belonged engraved, are also stored in this small 'museum', where some ceramics made by the late master craftsman Juan Brito or by the ceramist Marcial de León have also been collected.
Likewise, uniforms donated by workers who have already retired and different chairs that have been part of the Tourist Centers are also kept, although, in this case, although there are some that belonged to the Castillo de San José or the Mirador del Río that were replaced years ago, there are others such as those designed for Jameos del Agua that are still in use. "Those of the Mirador del Río were made of rush and then they were lined, but they ended up being replaced, because the regulations are also changing", explains a worker
"We are still looking for things"
Candle lamps and ashtrays in the shape of a frying pan that were once designed for Montañas del Fuego and that "many tourists stole" are utensils that are also stored in Argana Alta along with decorative buoys, old spotlights, lanterns, baskets, etc.
"Every time something is removed, the oldest thing is kept, although we are still looking for things", points out one of the maintenance workers who participates in this collection of objects and who, after more than 35 years working in the Tourist Centers, considers that it is important to preserve those things that are part of their history.