“A place called “Maspalomas strip of land” was declared a BIC and this is the only one in Spain and, probably, in the world, that declares a strip of land as a historical site.”
It was “an unusual measure, there are no similar precedents in Spanish legislation, because it is based on reports that were considered good for that decision”
The declaration of Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the category of historical site of the “Strip of land of the oasis of Maspalomas” was made without relying on any historical fact, but on “a construction, an invention by some authors, that Christopher Columbus took water and firewood there” on his fourth voyage to America, according to what Antonio Macías, professor of History at the University of La Laguna, stated this Thursday during the presentation of the book Assets of Cultural Interest. The oasis of Maspalomas.
For the specialist, one of the coordinators of the volume that signs together with Luciano Parejo and Guillermo Morales, the ruling of the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), of July 11, 2017, which annulled the decree of the regional government that rejected the declaration of BIC in the category of historical site, is "an error" because "there is no historical foundation that demonstrates the presence of Christopher Columbus in that place."
In this way, he recalled that the Canary Islands' historical heritage law "clearly states in its articles that to declare a place a historical site it is required that a historical event has occurred there", so, from a legal point of view, "despite that all the sentences you want have been issued is unfounded, but it was barely based on the mere opinion of a series of experts.
The proposal of the Island Council of Gran Canaria was based on the fact that Columbus on his fourth voyage to America would have taken water and firewood in the oasis and pond of Maspalomas. However, "there is no historical fact, because this has to be supported by a document that alludes to that presence and there is no document that proves that," stressed Antonio Macías.
“The problem is that in reality what has been done for this declaration is a historiographic fact, a construction, an invention by some authors, that Christopher Columbus took water and firewood there. The book includes environmental reports that attest that the pond is salt water, so Columbus could hardly have taken water from that pond for his trip.
“The ruling violates the heritage law itself; that is unquestionable,” highlighted the professor from La Laguna, who judged the reference that appears about Christopher Columbus going to Maspalomas in the diary of his son, Hernando, to be insufficient. The biography of Columbus written by Samuel Morison "says that he took water and firewood from a freshwater lake and firewood from a jungle and from then on all historians defend that," but "there is no document, no documentary evidence, to prove that Columbus took water and firewood in the Maspalomas pond, so the BIC is false, it is wrong,” he added.
The source of the misunderstanding, as detailed in the book, is a local scholar, Simón Benítez Padilla, despite the fact that "the plethora of historians have wrongly attributed what they consider to be the first scholar of Columbian action, Samuel Morison." But it is a “debatable and refutable” historiographic fact since it is denied by transversal analysis, that is, the studies on the geological history of the coastline of the territory of Maspalomas, the geomorphological and environmental ones, in addition to the nautical conditions of the coastal strip next to the pond. and to the oasis of Maspalomas.
“If you read the TSJC ruling carefully, you will see that a series of experts appear and of them there are seven who vote in favor, six against and three abstain. This is enough to show the partiality of the sentence. The historians intervened and said that this was not true, this is an unusual case in the history of the judiciary,” added the historian.
“It is not even credible, because the geological reports show that in that entire area it is impossible for any ship to anchor due to the existence of shallow rocks near the coast and because of the sea currents,” he said. “Why was the Maspalomas lighthouse built? To warn sailors of the strong currents that await them in that area. Furthermore, the water in the pond is salt water, it is sea water and this is demonstrated by the presence of salt water fish. How is Columbus going to get water from a salt water pond? That's why I take it directly from the sea,” he concluded.
For his part, Guillermo Morales stated that “there is and was nothing to justify” BIC's statement. “A place called the “Maspalomas strip of land” is declared BIC and this is the only one in Spain and, probably, in the world, that declares a strip of land as a historical site,” he pointed out. That area “already had a declaration as a totally justified natural space.”
The process ended "abruptly when a judge ruled that this could not be delayed any longer and forced the Autonomous Community to approve this instrument without discussion." The judge relies "on the fact that the reports on which it was based were sufficiently justifying", but this is "an unusual measure, there are no similar precedents in Spanish legislation, because it is based on reports that he considers good for this decision" .
As this “created unrest in some areas of culture in the Canary Islands and in the two universities, we began to prepare the seminar held in 2020 and this book that is now being published,” explained Guillermo Morales. “Because we believed that the matter deserved a discussion of sufficient level to reveal the mysteries of this approval, because it was a decision that did not leave the parties happy, except for one,” he said.
The book collects the conclusions of the I Seminar dedicated to the “Patrimonial Responsibility of the Administration in cultural legislation and its management", held in February 2020, with articles by Antonio Macías, Luciano Parejo, Concepción Barrero, Marcos Vaquer, José Suay Rincón , Ignacio Alonso, Joaquín Mañoso, Francisco José Villar Rojas, Andrés González Sanfiel, Rocío Silva and was presented by the president of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country of Gran Canaria, Tomás van de Walle Sotomayor, who served as host.
The seminar was promoted by the Canaria Scientific and Technological Park Foundation of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the participation of the universities Carlos III, of Madrid; that of La Laguna (ULL), the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and that of Seville, together with entities such as the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country of Gran Canaria and the Unesco Gran Canaria center.
