article_detail

Two British tourists were caught on camera risking their lives for selfies, just centimetres from the edge of Tenerife's infamous "building of death" - the abandoned Añaza hotel. The footage shows them holding mobile phones with no safety gear at all, after breaking through a metal barrier and ignoring warning signs. Police got an alert from municipal workers and quickly removed the pair, warning they could face fines around €600 each.

 

This comes just weeks after a tragic incident where a 13-year-old girl fell to her death from the 22-storey concrete skeleton. Construction started back in 1973 but stopped two years later, leaving the structure on shaky foundations. It's been linked to five fatalities overall, despite fences put up to keep people out. Over recent years, the site has drawn urban explorers and social media daredevils, frustrating locals who've long called for it to come down.

 

The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Ayuntamiento is now acting fast. They've approved the early stages of a compulsory expropriation order against the owners, Comunidad de Bienes Santa María and Promociones y Servicios Los Guíos. Officials say the building fails its legal social purpose and has no valid permits, so formal notices are going out soon.

 

In the meantime, to stop more break-ins, the Ayuntamiento is spending over €113,000 on urgent security upgrades. "Although the building is already fenced on its north, east, and west sides, the structure has multiple entry points that intruders are exploiting," explained Zaida González, the city councillor for Security, on Buenos días Canarias.

 

New steps include ripping out boards used as makeshift stairs up to the fourth floor, levelling land that gives access to the sixth floor, and putting up stronger electro-welded fences at weak spots. These are subsidiary measures since the Ayuntamiento doesn't own the site.

 

The full demolition can't happen until expropriation is complete, a process complicated by over 500 owners, mostly Germans. The ayuntamiento is waiting on the Spanish Government for the necessary legal framework to notify everyone. Locals hope this finally spells the end for one of Tenerife's most dangerous eyesores.

 

 

Images: wikicommons