Urgent response after Puerto Escondido chapel fire
After extinguishing the blaze, the La Oliva City Council prepared the necessary reports to intervene urgently on a Cultural Heritage Asset that has stood since the 15th century. The building’s restoration is a historic demand of the “Raíz del Pueblo” Association.
The La Oliva City Council has launched an emergency intervention on the Puerto Escondido Hermitage, a 15th‑century structure declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC) that suffered a fire in early August. The decorated stonework and the lintel were the most damaged areas, and the flames also reached a small portion of the roof’s wooden ceiling.
Once the municipal Local Police and Firefighters extinguished the fire, the Council’s Historical Heritage Department drafted a damage‑assessment report required to authorize emergency action. Because the hermitage is a BIC, the Council has requested a technical opinion from the Historical Heritage Department of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura to determine measures needed to prevent further deterioration from external agents such as rain and wind.
With the assistance of cultural‑heritage conservator Cristina Ojeda, protective sheets have been installed on the most exposed points to preserve the original elements.
“The incident demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding the municipality’s buildings,” said Mayor Isaí Blanco.
“We are coordinating with the Local Police to install surveillance cameras and reviewing the rehabilitation project for the building,” added Historical Heritage Councilor David Hernández.
The Council indicates that it has already begun the request for a comprehensive restoration process for the hermitage, aiming to carry it out as swiftly as possible. The cause of the fire and any possible perpetrators remain unknown.
“La Oliva’s History Is Crumbling”
The cultural association Raíz del Pueblo warned on 8 August 2025, via a social‑media post, about the building’s deterioration and called for stronger protection of local heritage, stating that “heritage conservation is not a whim; it is a responsibility.”
The group—holder of the Canary Islands Gold Medal and with more than half a century of activity—expressed sorrow at seeing the hermitage “wounded, blackened, abandoned…,” lamenting “the delay in its protection and conservation,” and decrying that “indifference, silence, and inaction leave gaps in our history.”
The fire occurred on 6 August.
The La Oliva City Council’s official statement claimed the blaze happened on 13 August, a few days after Raíz del Pueblo’s protest. However, Canarias 7 reported the incident “in broad daylight” on Wednesday, 6 August, citing journalist Catalina García, who noted that this 15th‑century hermitage has been left at the mercy of flames in the 21st century due to institutional neglect.
The emergency intervention by La Oliva follows the fire that damaged the Puerto Escondido Hermitage.