The Cabildo of Lanzarote has allowed the file to expire to declare Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), in the category of Monument, the Modernist House of the philanthropist Luis Ramírez in Caleta de Famara, located at number 83 of Avenida de Las Bajas. This dwelling has been in a state of ruin for years.
The Official Gazette of the Canary Islands has published the declaration of expiry of this procedure and the archiving of the file in an announcement signed by the Minister of the Presidency of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Miguel Ángel Jiménez (CC).
The resolution published this very Tuesday states that the file expired on June 9, 2024, almost two years ago, although it has not been made public until now.
A process that began in 2021
The procedures to declare Asset of Cultural Interest this dwelling were initiated in the summer of 2021. The following year, in May 2022, Historical Heritage of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, directed by Ariagona González (PSOE), initiated the procedure to declare this property a Monument. On June 9, 2022, the initiation of the file was published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands.
At the end of 2022, the mandatory reports were requested from several advisory bodies, including the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Miguel, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the University of La Laguna, and the Benahorita Museum, which gave the go-ahead to the procedure.
The file expired on June 9, 2024, 24 months after the procedure began. This resolution states that the file "cannot be reopened" until two years have passed since its expiry was declared.
Although there are several circumstances under which the procedure can be reopened: if requested by the owner of the property, in this case the Diocese of the Canary Islands, or by two of the advisory institutions recognized by the Law on Cultural Heritage of the Canary Islands.
The ruinous state of Luis Ramírez's modernist house in Caleta de Famara has already been reported on several occasions by the residents of the coastal town themselves. In August 2025, they even put up a banner that read: "Church and City Council, responsible for this ruin," which was removed the same day.
Built on behalf of Luis Ramírez
Its construction was commissioned at the beginning of the 20th century by the patron Luis Ramírez, a native of San Bartolomé, Lanzarote, who had a great fortune and traveled the world regularly. At that time, he wanted to build this house as a summer residence.
In 1935, the patron handed over the property to the parish of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Teguise so that the parish priest himself could live in it. At that time, he recommended in his will that if the house was not kept in good condition, it should become the property of the Hospital de Dolores, the island's first public hospital. However, the property continues to belong to the Diocese of the Canary Islands.
An extensive report by the Government of the Canary Islands already warned three years ago that the house was in a "rather deficient" state of conservation. It then highlighted that the facade area, where the marine decorative motifs were located, with animals such as octopuses and dolphins, was the worst affected.
In 2021, Teguise made public that the Canarian Diocese had submitted a rehabilitation project for the property. A year later, the Government of the Canary Islands announced that it would assume the restoration of its facade, given the imminent risk that its heritage values would be lost.
Although the Directorate of Historical Heritage of the previous Government studied the facade and advanced in the processing of its rehabilitation, the facade has not yet been rehabilitated.
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