La Laguna ofrece viaje por sus raíces a personas mayores
The Councilor for Cultural Heritage of the City of La Laguna, Adolfo Cordobés, and the art historian, official tourist guide, and collaborator of Adaris Canarias, Elisa Falcón, presented today a new edition of the program «Seniors living La Laguna World Heritage». This joint initiative will offer about twenty guided and adapted routes to explore the entire development of the city and its impact on America from within the walls of three buildings of significant historical and artistic value. This proposal will delve into cultural relationships and migratory exchanges, aiming to capture and disseminate the memories of the participants.
This initiative, which already has a strong following and high demand among the population over 60 years old in the municipality, not only contributes to the commemorative activities of the 25th anniversary of La Laguna’s inclusion in the World Heritage list, but is also part of a broader dissemination program designed to reach different age groups and communities. All based on the idea that «transmitting knowledge about heritage is essential to ensure its safeguarding.»
This was explained by Adolfo Cordobés, who emphasized that «in La Laguna, we understand that the protection of heritage requires individual and collective commitment. In addition to working on all the regulatory and administrative aspects, such as the creation of the Integral Management Office of the Historic City, the first Management Plan of the Historic City, or the update of the Special Protection Plan, we must continue to raise awareness in society about the importance of preserving and valuing heritage as a living part of our identity.»
«And we do this by reinforcing the dissemination of our important historical and cultural values among the residents of the entire municipality, with initiatives specially designed for different age groups. These new routes, tailored to people over 60 years old, will not only open the doors to different historic buildings but will also be an opportunity to create a space for connecting with personal history, experiences, and memories,» added the councilor.
In this edition, through guided visits to three central buildings of local heritage, participants will explore the historical relationships between the Canary Islands and America, through architecture, art, documentation, religious expressions, and human experience in migrations.
For this year, the chosen sites are the Salazar Palace, headquarters of the Bishopric and highly requested in previous editions; the Fonseca Baulén house, housing the Documentation Center of the Canary Islands and America (Cedocam), and the Anchieta House, which will host the first interpretation center about the international figure of the saint from La Laguna.
Three examples of heritage recovery
«Three buildings that are also examples of recovery and new uses respectful of heritage, allowing us to contextualize the Outstanding Universal Value of the city, as well as the criteria of UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines that have earned La Laguna its inclusion in the World Heritage list,» as highlighted by Elisa Falcón, who noted that the activities have been designed to be comfortable and adapted to the mobility needs of the group.
The collaborator of Adaris Canarias explained that «facilitating knowledge of heritage from within, providing them access to cataloged properties and historical sites, allows older people to expand and specify their knowledge of history and heritage through specific examples, but also to share experiences and anecdotes that may be of great interest.»
In this sense, she valued that «the elderly population of the municipality often receive more cultural and informative offerings aimed at visiting external places than to learn about their own history and heritage. On the other hand, they are an important group to advocate for and make visible, as they possess a memory of history that is usually only transmitted orally.»
«That is why this project also aims to create a space where they can express themselves, and where the experts responsible for conducting the activity become, at the same time, recipients and future transmitters of that knowledge,» she added.
This initiative, specifically aimed at people over 60 years of age, will start on April 24 and end on May 29, with 20 free tours that will reach a thousand people, as the spots are limited to 50 per route. Interested individuals can find all the information and register through the associations and groups of seniors in the towns and neighborhoods of La Laguna, or via email at info@adariscanarias.com
About Adaris Canarias
The organization Adaris Canarias is a collaboration platform among professionals from different disciplines to design social actions related to education, culture, leisure, health, tourism, and the environment. It advocates for cross-cutting relationships between professionals, organizations, and institutions, with social responsibility as the path to follow in optimizing results.
