In the action, a device of almost 20 people was deployed this Wednesday, including members of the Local Police and National Police, and workers from the Departments of Cleaning, Roads and Works and Parks and Gardens
The City Council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana has proceeded this Wednesday morning to evict the occupants of the emblematic Casa del Mato or del Estanque, located at the entrance to El Tablero, and to clean and remove almost eight tons of accumulated garbage for years on the entire plot.
The evacuation of the house, a municipal property, and the clearing and cleaning of the entire premises, began at 7:30 in the morning and lasted for almost five hours. It was carried out as a lightning operation in which members of the Local Police and the National Police participated jointly.
In the task of removing the almost eight tons of accumulated garbage, an octopus truck was used to remove the mattresses, umbrellas and the rest of the rickety furniture used by the squatters, and a deployment of fifteen workers from the Departments of Roads and Works and Parks and Gardens that received logistical support from the Department of Cleaning and the Ute in charge of that service in the municipality.
The rescue and cleaning operation of the Casa del Mato also involved pruning the centenary Indian laurel that identifies the house, and to which the City Council has made the decision to immediately install an irrigation system that allows its conservation.
In addition, the City Council has also decided to instruct and process an execution order to the entity that owns the plot to restore in a timely manner all the perimeter fencing of the site, with the aim of preventing it from becoming a landfill again. uncontrolled garbage bags.
A titanic fight
Regarding the Casa del Mato or the Pond, there is a plenary agreement for protection and conservation that was unanimously agreed upon by the Municipal Corporation of San Bartolomé de Tirajana in the extraordinary session that was held on December 14, 1993.
That plenary agreement was made effective at the initiative and request of the former resident of El Tablero and official chronicler of this municipality, Carmelo Pérez Rodríguez, as promoter of the neighborhood and cultural collective Escuela Popular Ayagabre. His concern about the deterioration, conservation and restoration of the Casa del Estanque or del Mato led him to begin an investigation and a work process that even made him fly to Madrid to meet and request its municipal transfer to the former owners of the house and of all the ground.
The preservation of the Casa del Estanque or del Mato was promoted by Carmelo Pérez after the construction of the GC-1 highway destroyed the Casa Negra, the first building built in dry stone that was built in El Tablero during the clearing of the land. . The now unoccupied property, which has become a landmark icon for the population of El Tablero, was part of a group of two identical homes built between 1903 and 1906 by Maestro Andrés Avelino Rodríguez Rodríguez (the bricklayer who worked on the construction of the Lighthouse). and Master Manuel Jorge.
In his titanic ten-year fight for the preservation of the House, Carmelo Pérez Rodríguez presented requests to the full City Council and the mayor's office to avoid the demolition of the property, and even also to the General Directorate of Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands. He achieved that the General Directorate of Culture and the Permanent Commission of Historical Heritage considered that the enclave of the House "has value as a historical site of a local nature due to its significance in the historical construction of the Tablero settlement." This body recommended to the City Council that it seek "the conservation of the place through its integration into the general system of free spaces for public use or its possible use as cultural and social equipment in the El Tablero neighborhood."
