"To know me is to fly with me", said Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), in the 2009 film Up In The Air, about a travelling 'down sizer' who, inbetween firing people for a living, spent a great deal of his life in hotels and flying.
With me, whilst I do of course love travelling, and I certainly do spend my fair share of the year in hotels, I do love exploring these old abandoned places, such as the Bunker La Quinta, in Tenerife. There are hundreds of similar places to explore across the Canary Islands.
It was at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 that the bunker was built. Ferocious battles between Spanish nationalists and the Republicans were a daily occurrence.
It is said that around half a million people were killed in the three year battle for supremacy of Spain and its islands - ultimately being won by Spain's nationalists and from there the dictatorship of Spain began under General Francisco Franco. Franco would rule Spain with an iron fist for the next four decades until his death in November 1975, when Spain became a democracy.
The bunker itself was fairly obviously built into a hill side on the north of the island to fend off incoming hostiles from opposing forces.
Upon arriving these days, like so many abandoned structures, the installation has been heavily vandalised, as can be seen in the photo's. In fact I don't think that I have yet been to any disused building in Spain which hasn't been heavily vandalised. When we talk about disused or abandoned in Spain, it is literally that. Short of the odd security guard here and there at some of the larger and more obvious targets by Urbex'ers, most structures are simply left to bake in the midday sunshine, and Bunker La Quinta is no exception.
There are no security guards at this place and no physical barriers to stop you having a good look around. Its beauty is its simplicity. From here, the Spanish soldiers would have had a good 180 degree view right across the sea, being able to get early warning of incoming enemies as well as, presumably, firing on them.
Heavy vandalism and rubbish dumped over the years, typical of similar abandoned structures
Upon arriving at the bunker, you are met by a fairly easy to navigate set of steps that take you down into the bowels of the structure. On a bright day, it's easy enough to walk around but if the light is setting in, you'll need a torch or the light from your phone to see your way around.
It's an interesting and unexpected labyrinth once you get inside. You can't get lost in there, but it's easy to see how soldiers would have spent possibly weeks down here, surviving on rations and socialising in-between shifts whilst keeping the islands safe from marauding pirates.
Although Tenerife was relatively unscathed in the civil war, it still had to keep its defences up, as like any of the islands of Spain, anything was fair game to opposing forces.
Being inside the bunker you get a real sense of what was at stake for islanders and regardless of which side you were on, the bunkers were very much the first line of defence.
One thing you can't escape however and for which there is no defence, is the inescapable stench of human waste and the rubbish left behind by visitors.
I'm no Columbo but using my detective skills, it was fairly obvious that nefarious visitors use the bunker as a local public convenience and somewhere to take your girlfriend for an evening of passion (how romantic!), so you do need to visit this place with an open mind. If you think you're going to see an immaculately preserved relic that smells of lavender, think again. You really do have to take this place at face value.
Don't let any of this put you off though. To be there is to feel what the soldiers went through during the Spanish Civil War. They would have spent days or even weeks at a time down in the bunker and you can only begin to imagine the cramped conditions they would have been under.
Temperature-wise, it's not too bad. I visited in mid-June when the outside temperature was 32c. Inside the bunker, it was a cool 17.
Conclusion
If like me you are interested in Spain's history, then abandoned structures like this are a must see. The bunker is located in northern Tenerife so getting here is slow and on windy roads can be frustrating (you will get stuck behind something!). So if you are going to come and see the bunker, and it is worth seeing, then make a day of it and check out the abandoned Neptuno hotel in Bajamar, too.
DIRECTIONS:
From the TF-5, leave at junction 29 and be on the opposite side of the Lidl store. You then need to take C. el Acebuche, which becomes C. Codeso then Avenida Los Pesqueros. Follow this road to the point where it has a sharp left bend where you'll find a small roundabout. Take the second exit at this roundabout and head down Calle el Moralillo. Bunker la Quinta is just off the road, to the right, at the top of the cliff.
There is plenty of free parking around thanks to abandoned property developments - parking spaces but without the planned house!
There are no facilities at Bunker La Quinta itself, but the nearest town of Santa Ursula has everything you could need.
**WARNING** reaching the bunker is at the edge of a high cliff and the path to the bunker under foot is loose sand/gravel. Exercise EXTREME caution when walking to the bunker. There are warning signs to remind you of this.
Recommended visit time: 60 minutes
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