The bunker in El Médano is part of the network of bunkers built on Tenerife as a strategic defense during World War II.
In one of our articles, we wrote that Francisco Franco feared an invasion from Gran Canaria, believing an attack would land in the south of Tenerife.
Defense
The machine gun nests were primarily placed where a landing was thought possible. They were constructed from concrete to withstand artillery attacks, using local materials to minimize visibility from both the ocean and the air.
On the cliffs of Playa del Tamboril, along the Costa Magallanes in El Médano, lies an old machine-gun bunker hidden in the landscape, standing as a solitary guardian of the ocean. Its original purpose was to protect the coast of Tenerife from a potential British invasion.
A Small Garden
Eight decades after World War II, the scenario of what might have happened on the Canary coast seems almost surreal. And as if history were playing with symbols, an unexpected space has emerged next to this fortification. Beside the bunker lies a small garden that adds a touch of color to the site.
“The garden of the bunker,” reads an improvised sign. It’s not just a name but a pacifist statement in the form of a garden, showing that places once intended for war can also house plants and cacti. As they push their way through stone and dry soil, these plants seem to challenge the cold, military construction. Inside, there’s a room no larger than four square meters, heavily eroded over the years.
Operation Pilgrim
Residents don’t know exactly who started this garden, but the history of these fortifications is well known. They were built in 1941, when the Francoist dictatorship feared an invasion of the islands. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill devised the so-called Operation Pilgrim, which planned for the occupation of the Canary Islands.
It was a secret plan, but the Spanish were not entirely unaware of the risk. Fearing a potential invasion, hundreds of concrete bunkers were built, designed to withstand artillery attacks, and hidden across various parts of Tenerife to avoid detection from the air. Now they are forgotten relics of a wartime era, scattered across the island.
A Living Paradox
Today, the stone walls of this bunker have fully merged with the landscape. They harmonize and camouflage with the rocks and soil, while the small garden nestled among the warlike scenery serves as a symbol of life and peace. It is an unmarked monument that silently represents the merging of two opposing worlds: war and peace, death and life.
The garden of the bunker is a living paradox. The sign rewrites history, and without grand words on bronze plaques, it speaks volumes about the act of planting life in a place once intended for battle.
Rodrigo Padilla © Photography
Source: diariodeavisos.elespanol.com
Bunker in El Médano ©
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