At the entrance to the unique volcanic landscape of La Geria is a historic house from the early 20th century that had suffered years of neglect and illegal modifications: the house of Los Carrasco. In the town of La Florida, this manor-style house is the starting point for the Lanzarote wine route and an opportunity to establish a dialogue between history and heritage conservation with today's society.
One of the wine companies that produce wines on the island of Lanzarote and have their production in La Geria, Bodegas Los Bermejos SL, acquired the property some years ago. The property, located on Las Calderetas street in the neighborhood of La Florida in San Bartolomé, is composed of three large differentiated units separated by patios: the family home, the part dedicated to the workers' residence, and, lastly, the winery and the wine press.
To this structure is added a double-leaf wooden gate at the entrance, vertical bars and panels. Around it, the paving of the floors occupies the entire perimeter of the house, alternating with other parts paved with lime mortar. In addition, it should be noted that it has its own hydraulic system with three cisterns, watering places and different channels, characteristic of the water recovery infrastructures of the 19th century estates.
The project carried out by this wine company, in collaboration with the Heritage area of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the City Council of San Bartolomé, has made it possible for this property to be recovered and transformed. "The collaboration between the institutions and the company has made it possible to move from a complete protection in the use of the property to a partial one in order to carry out a change in its function," said the Councilor for Urban Planning and Coordination of Projects, Classified and Harmless Activities, Public Spectacles and Housing of San Bartolomé, Marlene Romero, to La Voz.
Currently, the company is already carrying out the conservation, restoration and conditioning work on this house after being authorized by the City Council of San Bartolomé and with the mandatory reports from the Heritage Department of the Cabildo in 2022. In addition, its rehabilitation takes place after an "cumbersome file", as explained by the mayor Isidro Pérez on the morning show Buenos días, Lanzarote a week ago, who revealed that the council has brought forward "a very complex license" to get to this point. "We must congratulate the owners of Bodegas Bermejo who have done an excellent job of recovering the house of the Carrasco in collaboration with the City Council," he stressed then.
The plans in the house of Los Carrasco
Bodegas Bermejo SL plans to create a project with several prisms in the old house of Los Carrasco. Firstly, they are already working to recover the fallow land to make vineyards in the exteriors of the house, through the creation of socos as in the characteristic landscape of La Geria.
Another of the initiatives is the creation of an interpretation center, taking advantage of all the water recovery infrastructure that the property has. In this line, it will serve to show and explain part of the history of the island of Lanzarote with the treatment and conservation of this essential asset.
The change of protection in the use of the property took place to be able to carry out the third part of the project: the creation of an underground winery, which does not modify the exterior of the property, but can allow it to be adapted to new uses. At this point, according to the councilor Marlene Romero, these works are already being carried out.
In the hands of Bodegas Bermejo is still the possibility of developing an events room and a restaurant to take advantage of the property. Meanwhile, both the mayor of San Bartolomé, Isidro Pérez, and the Councilor for Urban Planning, Marlene Romero, wanted to highlight "the sensitivity" of the company when it comes to investing money to carry out the rehabilitation of a space of "great heritage value" such as the house of Los Carrasco.
This rehabilitation project aims to beautify the entrance to the municipality of San Bartolomé and also save the property after years of "looting", as Romero has indicated. "Heritage must be preserved, it is complicated, but efforts must be made by the administration," concluded Isidro Pérez.
