Arrecife began to transform its relationship with the sea when, on October 8, 1861, a pier-promenade was inaugurated in Puerto Naos. The action improved the environment of its main port area and responded to needs that went beyond maritime activity: hygienic conditions, the adaptation of public spaces, and the economic difficulties of part of the population.
The news appeared four days later and allows us to reconstruct an episode of that urban evolution. The difference between the date of the inauguration and its publication is essential to correctly situate this event: the act took place during the La Naval festivities, while October 12 became the date of the journalistic information.
A port that needed to change
In the mid-19th century, Puerto Naos was one of the fundamental enclaves for Lanzarote's maritime activity. Its natural shelter protected the vessels, and its surroundings were closely linked to trade and the export of island products. However, the deterioration of some areas and deficient hygienic conditions required measures that went beyond strictly port needs.
The press of the time had warned of the public health problems and the emanations caused by wastewater. The conditioning of the promenade aimed to improve that environment and contribute to correcting those deficiencies. The intervention, therefore, had a practical and sanitary dimension, in addition to the material improvement of the public space.
The resources came from a government aid of 10,000 reales intended to meet the needs of the Lanzarote population in a context of economic difficulties. Of that amount, Arrecife received 1,799.71 reales, which the authorities decided to invest in the new promenade.
Work and aid in difficult times
The initiative also had a social aspect. The funds allowed for the hiring of workers and the provision of daily wages to people going through situations of need. In this way, the intervention combined the improvement of an urban enclave with an immediate response to the economic difficulties of part of the population.
The works were directed by the port captain Blas Coll, linked to this action in the historical studies that have reconstructed the episode from the documentation of the time.
The work thus reflects a reality in which administrations had to simultaneously address economic precariousness, infrastructure deficiencies, and the living conditions of the inhabitants. With limited resources, the conditioning of Puerto Naos became an act of public utility with both urban and social effects.
La Naval and an inauguration before the whole island
The opening of the promenade coincided with the La Naval celebrations. The review of the Lanzarote Provincial Battalion and the live-fire exercises in front of the sea gave special relevance to the day of October 8, which gathered numerous spectators.
The Calle de la Marina offered different vantage points from which to follow the events. The sidewalks, rooftops, and windows of the houses were filled with onlookers, while families from different towns on the island came to watch the military exercises.
The inauguration thus acquired a collective dimension. Beyond the execution of a public work, the event was integrated into festivities that constituted a significant occasion for neighbors from different parts of Lanzarote to meet.
A promenade in the evolution of Arrecife
The space inaugurated in 1861 should not be confused with the current seafront or with the improvements made in subsequent decades. Its history is part of a gradual process in which port needs, concern for public health, and the creation of meeting places modified the capital's landscape.
Historical descriptions from the late 19th century allow us to know a later configuration of the promenade of the small pier, with stone paving, benches along the sea walls, and wooden seats. In the vicinity, there was also a dirt esplanade where, years later, the bandstand would be built, inaugurated in 1895. These elements correspond to different stages and help to follow the evolution of the place, although they do not allow us to determine by themselves what the promenade was exactly like at the time of its opening.
That pier-promenade was one of the interventions that contributed to changing Arrecife's relationship with its coastline. Its historical interest lies both in the material improvement of the port and in the daily needs it sought to address.
October 12, a date to recover memory
This October 12 marks 165 years since the publication of a news item that allows us to recover a significant episode in the urban history of Arrecife. It does not commemorate the inauguration of the promenade, celebrated on the 8th, but rather the dissemination of the information that bore witness to that action.
Behind the news lies a city that sought to improve the conditions of its main maritime enclave while facing economic difficulties and hygiene problems. The work offered employment to needy people and provided the port area with a space equipped for public use.
Looking back at that information allows us to rescue a piece of the memory of the capital of Lanzarote and remember that the landscape that is now part of Arrecife's daily life was also, in its time, a novelty that responded to specific needs and opened a new chapter in the city's relationship with the sea.
Sources and references
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Sáenz Melero, Antonia; Cabrera Rodríguez, Dunia; Perera Betancort, Francisca María. “Naos, algo más que un puerto. Arrecife, un litoral privileged”, in the Conference on Studies on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Available in Memoria de Lanzarote: consult document.
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Del Rosario León, M.a Teresa (1995). “Documentos de prensa para la historia del arte en Lanzarote (1861-1932)”, VI Conference on Studies on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, pp. 425-435. Island Councils of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Consult document.
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Crónica de Lanzarote, October 12, 1861 edition, cited in historical studies on the Puerto Naos pier-promenade. The newspaper reference can be verified through the historical press collection Jable/ Memoria de Lanzarote: consult collection. Note: the bibliographic references are included to facilitate the verification of historical data. The inauguration date (October 8) and the news publication date (October 12) are kept distinct.
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