A political party in the Parliament of the Canary Islands in Spain has submitted a proposal seeking to have the Hotel Médano recognised as a heritage tourist building. The proposal also includes a renovation plan for the hotel which will preserve the integrity of the original building. The Hotel Médano is located in el Médano, a coastal village in the south-east of the island of Tenerife. It is 7 km from the Reina Sofia airport in the south of the island and 100 km from Tenerife North airport and only 20 km from Playa de Las Américas.
Like many other parts of Spain, tourism is the largest and most profitable industry in the Canary Islands, and some polticians in Tenerife are now promoting the concept that cultural heritage must be understood in a comprehensive manner as one of the major legacies left from one generation to the next. The authorities on Tenerife are now seeking to recover derelict and abandoned buildings which have some historical and social value in order to bring them back into use for the benefit of islanders and tourists to Spain alike.
The Hotel Médano has been providing its services for 46 years since it opened in October 1963, the initiative of an English company based in Spain. The building belongs to the “rational” architectural style, and is inspired by the hotels that were built around the same time in the seaside town of Brighton, where hotels were built out over the sea.
This hotel has been intrinsically linked with the economic, social and cultural development of this coastal village in Tenerife, since many of the major social events take place in the hotel, and therefore it has played an important role in the social history of this area of Tenerife.
National and international windsurfing competitions take place every year on the beaches near El Médano. Kitesurfing, trekking, golf and scuba diving are some of the sports that guests in Hotel Médano can practise in this part of Spain. The hotel has 4 sun terraces, one of which is 500 m2, built on a jetty directly over the sea and has spectacular views of the “Montaña Roja” (the red mountain).