Stunning image of sacred mountain

Above a stunning aerial photograph of La Gomera's sacred mountain La Fortaleza, taken and published by ''The Piper Pilot'' on his Facebook page, where he showcases the beauty of the Canary Islands with shots taken from his aircraft. Below is an image I took some time ago. More about La Fortaleza can be found HERE...

The sacred mountain La Fortaleza

La Fortaleza, La Gomera's sacred table mountain just south of national park's forest near the island's former capital of Chipude, was once an important ritual site and later served as one of the last strongholds of the indigenous Gomerans against the Spanish conquerors. Seen here from the east (Mirador de Igualero) at sunset when mists often drift across the top. The Spanish word la fortaleza means strength, toughness or fortitude, but also translates as fort or fortress.

A similar view of La Fortaleza photographed in daytime. The mountain rises to 1.231 metres asl (over 4.000 ft) and the remote hamlets of Erque and Erquito lie in the deep valley below.

The ancient stone alignments and original religious sites on top were mostly destroyed by the Spanish conquistadores and what remained was further severely disturbed in the 1980's by a group of German esotericists who rearranged the stones and rocks they found to create spirals and other formations according to their own convictions. This happened before the site had been properly investigated and documented by archaeologists and consequently it could not be brought back to its original state. So there's no need to revere what you find there as it's not authentic, bar the rocks themselves, and there's also the addition of a modern Christian cross.

Above is a view of La Fortaleza taken from the western side about a kilometre from Chipude, with the village of Pavon, on the road to La Dama, at its foot. From there the table mountain top can be accessed via a slowly ascending winding path (signposted). However, the final ascent is demanding and not suitable for those suffering from vertigo. Bear in mind that you'll also have to climb down the same route as there is no other path back. In the past years some steps were hewn into the rock face that made the clamber up a bit easier, but you'll still need both hands and feet to do it. The spectacular views from the top are the reward for those who make the climb. As the late Tim Hart wrote in his excellent 'La Gomera - A Guide...' (ISBN 0-9547989-0-2): ''...to the top, where you feel as if you are on a giant altar to the god of the sky, as did the Guanches, and they called him Arahan''.

There's a petrol station and also the Bar Los Camioneros close by on the road to La Dama should you need to refuel, or indeed pre-fuel to muster courage and 'fortaleza' for the ascent.

Air-to-air missile found on La Gomera

Image source: eldia.es

The explosives and bomb disposal unit of the Spanish police Guardia Civil had to be dispatched from Tenerife South airport to La Gomera after a viable air-to-air missile was found on La Gomera near the main road in the sleepy banana-growing village of La Dama on the south coast yesterday.

The damaged missile with the words 'cabeza de guerra', meaning warhead, measured three metres long and weighed 80 kilos and was successfully defused in what was said to be a 'difficult and very complex operation'. Its origin is most likely the squadron of jet fighters of the Spanish airforce which is based at Gando airport on Gran Canaria and probably 'lost' the missile during exercises when flying over La Gomera.

Thank God it didn't explode.

The former fish cannery at La Rajita

I found the following interesting article today:

''La Rajita was formerly one of the centres of La Gomera's fishing industry, thanks to a factory operated by the Alicante-based Lloret y Llinares company, and until the 1960s it played an important role in the island economy.

Several such small fish salting, processing and packing factories were established in the nineteenth century and by the 1920s were flourishing, thanks to the island's situation and topography.

La Gomera was situated on a main tuna migration route, (and still is, but today's tuna population is miniscule in comparison).  There is also an ample coastal platform where valleys meet the sea.  The potential profit of this wealth of mobile food passing by, together with the relative ease of siting sheltered coastal fish factories, was soon efficiently exploited.  There were three such plants on the island's southern coast, one of which flourished from 1909 until 1986 at La Rajita.

© IslandConnections.eu

During the 1960s, a massive three quarters of all fish disembarked in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, that is, on the islands of Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro, as well as La Gomera, was absorbed by these three plants on La Gomera, two of which were set in isolated valleys, and the third in Playa Santiago.

The 60s heralded the end of their heyday.  Various factors, such as an outdated fleet, Japanese factory boats, the depletion of fishing grounds, lack of capital for modernisation and increasing local demands for fair wages, together with the availability of cheap labour in North Africa, caused crisis in the sector.

None of the three plants survived, despite this promising early 70s Agencia de Extensión Agraria report: “The preserves factory in La Rajita on La Gomera processes fish caught in the south of the island, the most important species being tuna and mackerel.  The factory also makes 'caviar Gomera', which is much appreciated (mackerel and sea bream roe).  La Rajita has an annual production of approximately 2,400 tons”.

Many workers came round by boat, weather permitting, from nearby Valle Gran Rey on a daily basis.  Women worked as fish cleaners and packers, men as tradesmen and fishermen.  There was a single story, cement factory, surrounded by workers' flats, boat houses for the small fishing fleet, a jetty, a football pitch, a shop, a gofio mill, chicken houses, goat pens, a thriving school and a chapel.

La Rajita's population slowly dwindled when the factory closed.  By the late 80s, the last families moved out.  Valle Gran Rey's tourist trade was growing, offering employment.  The access road between La Dama and La Rajita was in poor condition and in any case, there was little opportunity for either work or leisure activities in La Dama.

A few workers found employment in the banana cooperative there, but the school that La Rajita's children were relocated to was tiny, with children between three and twelve in one class.  The coup de grace came with the offer of newly built council housing in Valle Gran Rey for the remaining La Rajita population....''

The above appeared a couple of days ago on Island Connections.eu (click for complete article)