Prois de Candeleria


Useful Information

Location: Near Tijarafe. From Tijarafe follow the Calle da Molina. The road is paved, but it is steep and winding with numerous turns. Allow half an hour for the drive.
Open: no restrictions.
[2020]
Fee: free.
[2020]
Classification: Speleologysea cave SubterraneaCave House
Light: bring torch.
Dimension:
Guided tours: n/a
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Officina Tourismo, Casa del Maestro, Calle Real 11, 38780 Tijarafe, Tel: +34-922-490072. E-mail:
La Cueva de La Virgen, Camino del Prois, 38780 Tijarafe, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tel: +34-922-490003.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1588 written mention.

Description

photography
Proìs de Candelaria, La Palma, Spain. Public Domain.
photography
Proìs de Candelaria, La Palma, Spain. Public Domain.

The Proìs de Candelaria is a small cove with numerous sea caves, which were used by the locals to build houses. It seems this was an inhabited little village at some point, although it is deserted now. Nevertheless, all the houses are in a good state, some are probably used as summer cottages, others to store goods. The village is so tiny, there are almost no historic documents, but it was mentioned in 1588 as a small harbour. They gave the name Prois for the village, and it is probably of marine Portuguese origin and means to belay a ship. It seems many people have a problem to remember the name correctly, so there is quite often the misspelling Poris de Candelaria used. The second part of the name, Candelaria, is explained by a legend.

The Virgin of Candelaria was to be brought by ship from Santa Cruz de La Palma to Puntagorda. The sailors made a stop in Prois, but when they tried to continue their journey, the sea freshened up so much that it was not possible to leave. Despite several attempts they were not able to leave, and so the Virgin of Candelaria remained in Tijarafe.

There are numerous stories about the town, why the people built houses in such a remote point. The high comfort of the harbour is obviously not the reason, the waves are often rather high and it is not possible to enter or leave the harbour. Some guessed it was the home of pirates, or probably smugglers, the place is often called pirate bay. Actually the explanation is quite simple: most roads on the island, especially in mountainous areas, are rather young. Tijarafe had no connection to the rest of the island, except for this harbour. However, hauling goods up and down was definitely not really funny. The trail from Tijarafe goes up and down several hundred meters.

Todays tourists are only a little more fortunate: there is a road to a parking lot above the cliff. It is necessary to walk down to the sea level, with the normal cloudless sky not really a funny thing. Nevertheless, the remote and romantic place is definitely worth a visit. When driving to the parking lot, at the road is another small cave related sight: the Cueva de La Virgen. The tiny cave chapel is the home of the above-mentioned sculpture.