The La Oliva Town Council has initiated emergency intervention at the Ermita de Puerto Escondido, a 15th-century building declared a Cultural Heritage Asset (BIC) that suffered a fire earlier this August. The decorated stonework and lintel were the most affected areas, while the flames also reached a small part of the wooden ceiling.
Once the local police and fire services extinguished the fire, the Council’s Department of Historical Heritage prepared a damage report necessary to justify the urgent action.
As this is a Cultural Heritage Asset, the Council has requested a report from the Historical Heritage Department of the Fuerteventura Cabildo to determine the necessary measures to prevent further deterioration from external agents such as rain and wind.
With the support of cultural heritage restorer Cristina Ojeda, protective sheets have been placed over the most exposed areas to preserve the original elements.
“This incident demonstrates our commitment to preserving the buildings in the municipality,” stated the Mayor, Isaí Blanco. Meanwhile, the Councillor for Historical Heritage, David Hernández, noted that they are coordinating with the local police for the installation of surveillance cameras and reviewing the renovation project for the building.
The Town Council indicates that it has already begun the application process for a comprehensive restoration of the hermitage, aiming to execute it as swiftly as possible. At present, the cause of the fire and who may have caused it remain unknown.
“The history of La Oliva is crumbling”
The Cultural Association Raíz del Pueblo warned on 8 August 2025, via a social media post, about the deterioration of the building and called for greater protection of local heritage, stating that “the preservation of heritage is not a whim: it is a responsibility.”
The group, awarded the Gold Medal of the Canary Islands and with over fifty years of history, expressed their sorrow at seeing the hermitage “wounded, blackened, abandoned…”, lamenting the delay in its protection and conservation, and lamenting that “indifference, silence, and inaction leave gaps in our history.”
The fire occurred on 6 August
The Town Council of La Oliva stated in its announcement that the fire occurred on 13 August, days after the protest by Raíz del Pueblo. However, Canarias7 reported the incident “in broad daylight” on Wednesday, 6 August, in a report by Catalina García lamenting that this hermitage, “constructed in the 15th century, has been left at the mercy of the flames in the 21st century due to institutional neglect.”
