The road has more than 30 ravines

 Bendy roads again and an early 2008 - 2025 Candlemas Bun, which shows you what 17 years of sun does to a byroad.  We will wiggle in and out, with increasing numbers of houses clinging to the valley tops above the occasional river valleys.

We are in wine country and the Bodega Cumbres De Abona

https://www.cumbresdeabona.com/ They offer wine - including stuff of deepest read and oil.  Have a look at the website, it is rather nice.  Dawid reckoned ‘Nice spot if you are passing by, not sure if worth a trip. Only place producing olive oil in Tenerife. Pricey - 250ml for 6 eur’  Karsten added ‘Highly recommended! You can get excellent wines here for relatively little money. The red wines were, in my opinion, the best I've had the pleasure of tasting in the Canary Islands so far. The winery is also just over 10 km from the highway and can be reached via a beautiful road. I don't want to go into too much detail, but: a real treat for wine lovers!’

We are near the Ayutamiento de Villa de Arico - so let us pop in.  The website link seems to be broken. 76 reviews garner 3 stars only.    I had to go back a year for a good review.  Desire gave their only review and said ‘I came to the Arico SAC to request assistance with several matters, and I have to give special mention to Mrs. Mari, who was the one who helped me and was incredibly attentive, doing an incredible job. Thank you so much for the attention I received.’

Alberto was furious six months ago. ‘WFUL CITY COUNCIL. The way this corporation operates is terrible. After more than a year and a half of owning the house, we have no internet access due to pending permits from the city council, no garbage containers, and no streetlights. The filth of the municipalities is aggravated by gross municipal negligence. Municipal workers themselves dump waste from pruning palm trees in public streets, which is completely illegal. The governing team operates like a mess; if a citizen disagrees with them, they will be silenced from social media and any public event, directly violating a fundamental right: freedom of expression, which is reminiscent of times of censorship. They promised change when the current corporation took office, but they've forgotten about their citizens. It seems the only significant change was the €10,000 salary increase for the mayor and deputy mayor.’

Spanish wiki sums up the place well enough ‘The landscape is dominated by deep ravines and the remains of volcanic lava flows, with abundant terraces that allow for the cultivation of vines, potatoes, and tomatoes.’   It adds useful things such as ‘The Guanches in Arico settled in small cave villages in the main ravines due to their ecological conditions and water availability. 

An 18th century equivalent comes this way:

‘ARICO. It is 3 leagues from Granadilla and 10 from La Laguna. The road has more than 30 ravines. The ruined houses are where they call El Lomo, facing east; and here is the church, which is good, carefully provided by the bishop. The climate, when the east is not blowing, is mild. The floor and countryside are very arid, all of rough stone. From the aforementioned Lomo to the beaches of Abona there is about 1 league, and there is the hermitage of Las Mercedes (...). It is a neighborhood of 1,869 people, some in the areas of Río, Arico Nuevo, Icore, Archenche, Sombrera, Cisnera, La Degollada, Gavilán, Tamadaya, Valencia, Sabina Alta, Zarza, Fasnia, La Gambuesa, etc. It has 4 hermitages.’

In the next century Pascual Madoz wrote this:

ARICO. Place with a town hall on the island of Tenerife (…). SITUATED to the S. of the aforementioned island, at almost the same distance from the summit called Fasnea and the sea, on different hills, where it is subjected to strong winds; it enjoys a fairly healthy CLIMATE. The population is divided into 12 neighborhoods, namely: Lomo, Río, Sisuera [sic], Gavilanes, Degollada, Arico el Nuevo, Arico el Viejo, el Bueno, Icor, Chafana, Sabinita and Altos; all together they have about 40 HOUSES of 2 floors and regular construction; the rest are generally low, which they call Torreras [sic], made of dry stone with thatched roofs; about 66 families live in caves, opened in the rough stone that covers the hills. They also use the same caves to enclose animals, and during large winterings, some often collapse, causing irreparable damage to people and animals. The parish church, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, whose feast day is celebrated on June 24, occupies the center of the area, called El Lomo; (...) it was erected as a parish in 1640, segregating it from that of Vilaflor, to whose parishioners the place previously belonged; (...) the cemetery is located in a well-ventilated area, and separate from all the neighborhoods. In the area of ​​​​El Río there is a hermitage dedicated to Saint Bartholomew; and in that of Arico el Nuevo, which is where the richest people live, another one whose title is Our Lady of the Light. (...) This town has one mayor by sea with 77 registered members who belong to the district of Santa Cruz. The TERM borders on the N. with that of the town of Fasnea; to the south by Granadilla; to the east by the sea, and to the west by Mount Teide; its surface is cut by many ravines that descend from the summit; the land is thin and steep, so the planting of trees and the sowing of cereals are done in the ravines, containing the soil with walls. Higher up, the land is very fresh, of white tuff, so that potatoes are planted; and good harvests are obtained even when it does not rain, despite the lack of irrigation. The area under cultivation will amount to about 400 fanegas. The slopes and coasts produce many prickly pear cactus, in which cochineal breeds, which is already a crop of some importance, and will undoubtedly become the main source of wealth. Throughout the slopes of the summit, there are thick pine forests, but they are very deteriorated due to lack of supervision. Several streams run through the area, providing irrigation to the land, although scarcely. The Taco spring, between the sea and the town; the Chiperdi spring, between it and Mount Fasnea; the Chajusna spring, which flows down from a mountain of the same name; the Tamadaya ravine and the Aresa ravine; the former runs through the western ravines, and the latter through those of the eastern one.

The ROADS are rough; the INDUSTRY consists of stone slabs, of which approximately 15,000 yards are manufactured annually, and are exported to America and Africa.

TRADE, Apart from the aforementioned, it can be said that there is no traffic. Until last year, smuggling boats from Gibraltar frequented these coasts, which used to anchor in the ports of Porís and Abrigos de Abona, where they sold their cargo; but since that time, they have not been seen again. Produces: wheat, barley, potatoes, cochineal, a few figs, and wine; sheep and goats in small numbers. Population: 543 residents, 2,284 souls…

People left for Cuba in the 19th century and then stayed when new cash crops were developed.  The 1920s brought telephones and the 1930s brought the murder of four locals for being Anti-Fascists.  The 1940s brought a Leprosy treatment centre, which soon closed when new drugs became available.  Currently about 8000 people live in the municipality.

With a headful of History it is time to sit and rest.