playa agua dulce los silos

What is now the Town of Los Silos was founded in the territory of the pre-Hispanic kingdom of Daute, located in the north-west angle of Tenerife. Although the Tow´s founding act is not documented, the origin of Los Silos is closely linked to Portuguese land-owner Gonzalo Yanes, who owned local land from the late 15th century on, although the name of Los Silos appears for the first time in a royal charter dated 1509. The origin of this nomenclature refers to the three cereal deposits built by Gonzalo Yanes, who was also in charge of the old Daute mill, rented from the captain general, Alonso Fernández de Lugo, located on the Los Silos coast, with a chiminy stack that continues to stand as living testimony of the past. From 1502 on, the population experienced rapid growth thanks to the increasing importance of Garachico's port. In mid-century, the population of Los Silos totalled a hundred inhabitants.

In 1883, telegraphic communications were established between Tenerife and the island of La Palma by installing an underwater cable. By this stage of the 19th century, the first steps had been taken to build a road to link Garachico, Los Silos and Buenavista, and it was completed in the second decade of the following century.
In the early 20th century, Los Silos witnessed two events that marked both its history and its appereance. On the one hand, on July 28, 1921, a Royal Decree issued by the Home Office officially granted municipality status to Los Silos. On the other hand, the arrival of Valladolid-born architect Mariano Estanga, who was greatly involved in the urban renovation of the Canary Islands, heralded the introduction of modernism into local architecture. He started by restructuring Plaza de La Luz, surronding it with walls and installing a bandstand and a kiosk in the centre, similar to art nouveau style, with two floors and an octogonal shape, designed by Domingo Pisaca y Burgada. At the same time, a series of public work projects were undertaken in order to modernise and fit out the borough. The streets in the centre are cobbled and new roads are built to absorb the urban growth that the municipality was experiencing.

The borough, which borders in the west with Buenavista, in the east with Garachico and El Tanque and in the south with Santiago del Teide, spreads from the Puerto de Erjos (pass), at an altitude of 3600 feet, to the Atlantic Ocean and has a total surface area of 24,23 Km2.

The borough has always focused on farming. There were also large pieces of land used for sugar cane crops, as shown by the presence of several sugar cane mills. These two crops co-exist in the 16th and 17th centuries, together with vineyards.

The services sector came into its own in the 70's related to the tourist enclave at Sibora, where the Municipal Swimmingpools are located and where apartment, a four starts Hotel Luz del Mar and other buildings have proliferated.
Nonetheless, bananas, vines, vegetables and dry land fruit trees continue to be the focal point's of the borough's economy.

The old town centre starts at Plaza de La Luz, with a kiosk dating from the early 20th century. The square is surrounded by the Town Hall, the restored ex-Convent of St. Sebastian, and the Church of Ntra Sra de La Luz.

By the Icod- Buenavista road we find the San Bernardo district, which has experienced a rapid growth in the last few years and forms part of the boroughs of Los Silos and Buenavista.

The San José or Las Manzanillas district is close to the coast and a throughway to the tourist enclaves. It is near to two other districts, Aregume and Fátima.
On the Los Silos coast lies the Puertito natural site, where the Municpal Swimmingpools are located, in the vicinity of Charco de la Araña and Agua Dulce Beach.

Half way between Los Silos and Garachico is the La Caleta de Interian district, the administration of which depends on the two boroughs.
In the middle of the borough is the La Tierra del Trigo district which, as its name indicates, was originally centred on cereals. In its vivinity is the hamlet Caserío de la Juncia. Finally, at an altitude over 3000 feet, we find Erjos, which is administered by the boroughs of Los Silos and El Tanque.

Art, culture and tradition

In September, 1568 the inhabitants of Los Silos decided to build a church in honour of the Virgin of the Light. Four “Doublas” (currency of that time), were set aside each year for its maintenance and decoration by two local landowners, Melchor Filguera and Amador Gil. The church was completed in 1570. it comprised a singe nave with a wooden roof and a main chapel.

In September, 1605, the neighbours were able to elevate the church to parish category and cut off its links with the Buenavista church, providing new work was undertaken: the instalation of a choir, which was rapidily completed by master Vargas, in charge of the masonry work, and carpenter Juan Jordán; and enlargement of the main chapel, which did not start until 20 years later.
1629 saw the start of the construction of a new stone arch and seating by master stonemason Juan Rivero.

Some doors were also made, together with a new coffered ceiling. In 1680 the arch of the main chapel was reformed again, on two Tuscan half columms. The churches cruciform shape, as it is today, was completed with the construction of two side chapels, Capilla de la Misericordia and Capilla del Corazón de Jesús.
The most outstanding aspect of the Chapel Capilla de la Misericordia (to the right of the nave), completed in 1641, is coffered ceiling comprising eight skirting panels with wooden grill panels. It has also a richly engrave conical-shaped pinnacle in the centre. The Corazón de Jesús, which also dates from the 17th century, is simetrical to the former (to the left of the nave) and presents a more modest coffered truss rafter ceiling.

The chamber of the Virgin ( a room connected to the niche where the Virgin was placed) was built in the second half of the 18th century on a device created at the start of the century, and the only one of its kind in the Canary Islands, which elevates the Virgin. The sacristy was built beneath this chamber. In the 1920's, the church was subject to a mayor reform by architect Mariano Estanga, substantially altering the facade by superimposing a new one with a central tower over an attic, flanked by another two towers, slightly set back, in neo-Gothic style.
All that remains of the primitive church is a stonework door on the north side, with an arch over Tuscan pillars. All that remains of the coffered ceiling are the six tie beams braces adorned with geometri ribbon desings. The main Chapel ceiling, of rectangular plan, still maintains the original structure with a beautiful symmetrical chess-board effect.

The restoration of the church was completed in september, 2001 and we can now see the splendid coffered ceiling, on new timber of extraordinary quality and excellent craftsmanship.

Images

El Cristo de la Misericordia

This is the image of greatest artistic value in the church. It dates from 1632 and is of unknown authorship, with Juan de Mesa and Andrés de Ocampo as two possibilities. It is a classic image from the Andalussian School, as shown by the perfection of its anatomy, the serenity of the face, absence of muscle tearing and its Baroque style manifest in the carving realism, the folds of the loincloth and the splashes of the blood on the body. It is a sculture of enormous beauty and artistic quality, of considerable importance in the genre.
The image is housed in a niche-retable of mannerist style, belonging to the school created by Martín de Andújar in Garachico. It is exhibited in the Capilla de la Misericordia.

El Cristo de la Humildad y la Paciencia

Sculpted in the first half of the 17th century by a local maker of religious images, Francisco Alonso de la Raya, who was born in La Gomera and disciple of Marín de Andújar. According to Martinez de la Peña, this image is of better quality, particularly the head and it is better preserved than those found in Icod and Garachico, sculpted by the same artist. It still preserves the original painting, for instance. Its beautiful retable-niche with salomonic columms dated from the second quarter of the 18th century, much later than the image itself. It is exhibited on the left-hand wall of the nave.

La Virgen de La Luz

The origin of the Virgin de La Luz is surrounded with mistery and large doses of popular legend. Some chronicles claim that it was found by a fisherman called Simón González de Herrera in 1521, on the Garachico coasts. According to others, it was found in Adeje and, when it was on its way to La Orotava, a storm forced it to take refuge in Garachico. It has also been speculated that its origin is Portuguese and that it was meant for Icod de Los Vinos.
One hypothesis is that the sculpture is the work of Portuguese artist Antonio de Sylva. In any event, the image currently presiding over the parish was created later than the original. Its artistic values include a series of details pointing at a clasic style: the idealisation of the face, the straight nose, the half closed eyelids.

Finally, we have to mention the image of San Antonio Abad or San Antón, by painter and sculptor Juan de Abreu and dating from 1872, of which the head and hands are amazingly realistic. It is located in the Corazón de Jesús Chapel. There was a previous image, which arrived in Los Silos in 1748, but its location has been a mistery since 1862. As for the Nazarene, it is a recent, but beautiful sculpture.

Silverwork

One of the best quality and most valuable examples of reinaissance on the island is the Processianal Cross, a silverwork dated around 1580.
The Imperial Crown worn by the Virgin de La Luz on special occasions, of Mexican origin, dates from 1650 and is considered to be the only one of its kind in the Canary Islands.

Also worthy of mention are two silver candlesticks of Venezuelan origin, donated by Manuel Casañas in 1762. The two embossed silver lecterns, with something of a Rococo air, supposedly of the same origin as the candle holders, were donated by Guerra in 1762 and Manuel Casañas again in 1784. The set of Baroque silver wine cruet, of Mexican origin, dates from 1770. 1795 is the date of the Sacramental Chapel Door, coated with embossed silver. In the 20th century the parish received the bier on which to carry the baldachin of the Virgin de La Luz, the work of Leopoldo Fernández Trujillo, in nickel plate and the purest Baroque style.

Paintings

The paintings in the church include “Cuadro de las Ánimas”. It is an oil painting on canvas dated in 1732 and restored by Gumersindo Robayna in 1872. It represents the purgatory and hangs on the right side of the nave.

The two large canvases, the Virgin de La Luz protecting fishermen in a storm (on the left-hand wall of the nave) and Jesus curing the widow's son (on the right, next to “Cuadro de las Ánimas”), are by Cádiz-born artist Manuel López Ruiz (Cádiz 1872-Santa Cruz, 1960). The same author painted “La Oración en el Huerto”, located in the Capilla de la Misericordia. Finally, in the Corazón de Jesús chapel is a contemporary painted taperstry depicting Jesus talking to the Samaritan.

The ex-Convent of San Sebastian

On the south side of Plaza de La Luz is the restored building of the Old Convent of San Sebastian, for nuns of St-Bernard's order. It was founded on August 31st , 1649 by Captain Sebastian Pérez Enríquez and his wife, Luisa Francisca Montañés. The convent was built incorporating two double storey houses and a series of plots of land belonging to the founder himself, followed by other houses donated by María Acevedo, wich were duly reformed. The building had a large wooden deck, similar to those seen in the convents of La Laguna, but in this case on one end of the building. Convent life started with eight nuns, three of which were the founder's daughters. With the nuns installed, a new church was built annexed to the convent, and it is now the Sebastian Pérez Enríquez exhibition centre. The street door, which remains intact, is framed by a round stone arch.

In the 1690's, the convent housed less than ten nuns, due to their situation of extreme poverty. There was something of a boom from 1750 to 1786, followed by a profound crisis which ended with its final disappearance in 1836. From 1836 to 1850, when the building was transferred to the Ministry of War, some remodelling was carried out, removing walls to widen the cells. A few years later, the building passed into the hand of the Ministry of Public Finance and, in 1912, it was used as a primary school. Four years later (1916), it became the Town Hall, and was used for that purpouse until 1980, whe the council moved to its present facilities.

The presence of architect Mariano Estanga in Los Silos also affected the primitive structure of the convent. One result was the balustrade, which has now dissapeared, which covered the entire facade. After some attempts to demolish the building, unsuccessful thanks to several organisations and popular pressure, in 1980 a process began to get it declared a historic-artistic monument. This finally ocurred on February 7, 1986. In recent years, the building has undergone significant remodelling and equipment and is now the borough's main cultural centre.

Gothic Panel painting by Alonso Sedano

Special mention must be made of the Gothic Panel painting located in the Town Hall (top floor), purchased by the Council in 1981 at an auction in Madrid. It is the Martyrdom of San Sebastián, a late Gothric work, very large, painted with tempera and stucco base by Burgos's-born painter Alonso Sedano in the 15th century. In 1982, the pannel was restored by members of the Art Restoration School, covering the cracks in the support and cleaning the painting. It reveled the remains of old restorations. We are now able to enjoy this painting in all its splendour. Its artistic quality is certainly enormous and it is the only one of its kind in the Canary Islands.

Civil architecture

There are numerous exampled of traditional Canary Island architecture in Los Silos. Most of this buildings have architectural elements in the finest local tradition: sash or double-pane window with smaller hinged panes, projecting eaves, Ionic capital woodworking using fine pine harwood (called Tea wood), etc.

One of the most representative examples, Casa de Los Trujillo, now the Town Hall in Plaza de La Luz, dates from the first half of the 17th century; it was later enlarged in modernist style. It is located at El Olivo's street.

Casa de Los Báez, located at Dr Jordán nº 23, is by a beautiful climbing alley. Nº 7 of that steet is the Parish House, from the second decade of the 18th century, the interior of which has now been reformed.

Casa de Los Páez, to be found at Benitez de Lugo nº3, opposite the La Luz coffee bar, dates from the 18th century.

Casa de Caraveo, located at La Placeta de la Constitución nº6, is from the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century, and its right side was reformed in the early 20th century by Mariano Estanga.

Casa del Sr. Estévez (old Casino), at Dr Jordán nº6, is one example of new forms of Canary Island architecture.

Telegraph house, cable house

In 1883 telegraphic communications were established between Tenerife and La Palma by installing an underwater cable, ending on the beach Playa de Agua Dulce. The project, under the auspices of the Mayor of Garachico Don Esteban de Ponte Benítez de Lugo and the local Member of Parliament Don Feliciano Pérez Zamora, was carried out by the Rubber India Gutta Percha Coy Silverstown London Company. The so-called “cable house”, the restoration of which was completed in August 2001, continues to stand on the coast.

Cane-sugar mill

Sugar cane was of key importance for the Canary Island economy during the first half of the 16th century, when it was exported to Europe. The sugar industry made use of cane sugar mills known as “Ingenios”. They were in places where there was plenty water (north and low parts of the islands).
They also required an important amount of timber for their construction, to be burned in their boilers and to make the cases in which the sugar was transported and exported abroad.

The old Daute mill, administered by Gonzalo Yanes, the chimney of which can be seen on the Los Silos coast, used a timber felled on the woods of Monte del Agua. The privately-owned building is now used as a banana warehouse.

Lime ovens

On the road to the El Puertito tourist enclave are two ovens used in the past to manufacture lime for farming and construction purposes.

According to oral tradition, the oldest of them dates from the 19th century and the other carries the date 1931. The limestone used to manufacture the finish product was carried by see from Gran Tarajal, in Fuerteventura, and unloaded onto boats from the area known as “La Burrera”, at the ports of Daute and even Garachico. These ovens continued to work until the 1960's, when lime was replaced by the widespread use of cement.

Culture and festivities

The festivities in honour of the patron, Nuestra Señora de La Luz, take place in the first week in September, and their first reference dates from 1722.
An opening speech marked the start of the festivities, in which the speech-makers declare their best wishes for the people. The dance of “Las Libreas”, an example of the spectacular nature and splendour of the festivities, lasted until 1961. The “Tajaraste” is one of the most significant dances of the time.
Nowadays, Los Silos is at its most charming every September, in an atmosphere of faith and devotion, joy and popular entertainment, with solemn masses, processions full of fervour and other festive events.

The festivities in honour of San Antonio Abad, are very popular. They take place in mid-January when, according to popular beliefs, he blesses all the livestock in the region.
The borough also celebrates festivities in honour of St. Joseph, Nuestra Señora de Fátima, Corpus Christi, St. John, St. Bernard, St. Christopher, Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, Nuestra Señora de la Milagrosa and Santa Cecilia.
Every year, the town council of Los Silos attempts to recover old traditions which, together with new events, increase the entertainment factor in these festivities.

They all include a performance by the “Nueva Unión” group and different flokloric groups such as Cumbres de Erjos, Los Trigueños, Achenalday, Menceyes de Daute and Mayores de Ingenio, from the districts of Erjos, La Tierra del Trigo, La Caleta de Interián and Los Silos itself, respectively.

International story festival

The International Story Festival arose in 1996 thanks to an initiative by Ernesto J. Rodríguez Abad, who was born in Los Silos and worked as a professorof Spanish Literature and Drama at the Higher Centre of Education of the University of La Laguna.
With the help of a group of locals, he undertook this project in order to promote reading and story-telling. It is held every year in the first few days of December with the participation of outstanding writers, storytellers and actor from all over the world (Mexico, United States, Japan, Brazil, Venezuela, France, etc).
It is a festival of a great prestige and quality, attracting a large number of people from over the world over. Activities include street animation and mural exhibitions, plays and story-telling in different buildings: the ex-Convent of Saint Sebastian, the Health Centre Assembly Hall and Plaza de la Luz. Children come to this event from all the schools on the island.

Gastronomy

The gastronomy of Los Silos is renowned for the quality and variety of its typical dishes. This applied to its exquisite snails, sea perch, cod and salemas, cooked with so-called black skin potatoes, “andinas” or “bonitas” and garnished with “mojo picón”, saffron or coriander sauce; pickled periwinkles, roast limpets and cockles; pollack hotpots, “gofio” hotpots, marinated suckling goat, rabit and pork. All this is washed down with the excellent local white, red and rosé wines.

For dessert, coastal bananas, “frangollo”, biscuits made with wine, eggs and cream appetising almond cheese, rice pudding and pastries (made from sweet potatoe and sweet pumpking filling).

For an after-dinner liqueur: rue and “mistela” (macerated fruit liqueur).

Monte del Agua y Pasos

Located in the borough of Los Silos, in the Teno's Rural Park, (Parque Rural de Teno), is the Monte del Agua. Spreading over approximately 800 hectares, at an altitude ranging from 1800 to 3600 feet, it is an area of a great ecological value, housing interesting vegetable and animal species. There are three types of formation present in this mount area.
-Evergreen laurel forest, in the highest areas, where the influence of the sea of clouds is greatest and the ground is more developed. The most representative botanical species are laurel trees, Canary Island viburnums, the viñátigo (Persea indica), Canary Island holly and aderno (Heberdenia excelsa). The underbrush in this area comprises smaller species such as Isoplexis chalcantha, Hypericum grandifolium, Cedronella canariensis, Canarina canariensis, smoke bush (Bystropogon orinigolius), Geranium canariense and the ferns, mosses, lichens and fungi typical of “laurisilva”.
-Heather and myrtle land, in the most degraded parts of the mount, with poorer soil. These areas are dominated by briarwood, fire trees and acebiño or Canary Island holly.
-Dry or thermophile evergreen forest, located on the lowest areas with less moisture and a higher temperature. The different vegetable species include Visnea mocanera trees, strawberry trees, paradise tree (Picconia excelsa), Delfino trees and ironwood tree. The later are very important on the islands and commonly known as Canary Island ebony trees, one of the most spectacular examples of which is to be found in Cuevas Negras' footpath.
With regards to the wildlife, both laurel pigeon and Bolle's pigeon are endemic. The woodcock is found in a large numbers on this mount. Other local species include chaffinch, creasted tits, robins, canaries, black-birds, sparrow hawks, small owls and the manx shearwater. With regards to invertebrates, there are many endemic insects, including a carabid beetle, a living fosil considered to be a sub-species exclusive to the mount of Los Silos. Most of these animal species survive thanks to the protection and food provided by the local vegetation. In turn, the birds help to spread seeds and the insects pollinate many vegetable species.

Erjos'wet-lands

Also in the Teno Rural Park, divided between Los Silos and the neighbouring borough of El Tanque, at an altitude of over 2850 feet, is the place known as Paraje de los Dornajos (Charcas de Erjos), an example of the land movement carried out in the 1970's and 80's, to carry soil to the plantations on the southernmost part of the island. This clayey soil has envolved into a series of a natural rainwater deposits, making it one of the few inland areas capable of housing aquatic species.
Whe the land movement process ended around 26 year ago, a large number of vegetable and animal species started to gradually colonise these ponds, although their presence depends on rainfall, so they are half dry for long periods of time.
The most spectacular visitors to the ponds are undoubtedly birds associated to the large masses of water. They include the moorhen, which arrived in the 1980's, the coot, the common snipe and the grey heron. The ponds are also regularly visited by migrating birds.

The coast

The Los Silos coastline is arround 5 km long. The mean annual temperature is arround 20ºC and has no major seasonal variations, making for warm winters and not excessively hot summers.
The coastline is rocky, with a series of points separating beaches and ponds. Starting from the western sector, between La Caleta and Sibora, we find Charco del Juaniquín, Charco del Romancito, Charco de las Damas, Charco del Inglés and the beach of Playa de Agua Dulce or Playa Sibora. The latter possibly owes its name to the presence of a freshwater spring at the bottom of a small cliff. It is a typical pebbled beach, which turns into black sand at a low tide in the summer. It is in the vicinity of the Telegraphic's house, the Daute Sugar Mill and the old dock of the same name, currently in ruins. Following the coast road, we reach El Puertito, which houses the municipal swimmingpools and the Puertito beach, also pebbled. To the west are the ponds, which can be used for bathing, like Charco de la Araña and Charco de Los Chochos. A natural swimming pool surrounded by the sea is planned for La Araña, making the most of its natural conditions. Nearby is the Charco Don Gabino and the Bufadero area.
Some of these points ( Charco Don Gabino, Charco del Inglés, Charco de Los Chochos) have been conditioned and are very popular recreational areas for the local population. There is currently a plan for the regeneration of the Los Silos coast, which is presently being studied, involving conditioning the beaches and improving the local tourist business, making protection of the natural landscape compatible with the recreational use of the coast.

Salt is produced in the ponds located in the La Caleta de Interián area (Charco del Gomera, Charco del Inglés and Charco de Las Damas), and elaborated process, using the natural gaps between the rocks. This is only carried out in the summer months.

Información proporcionada por la oficina de turismo de Los Silos. A los que estamos muy agradecidos por toda la información que nos han facilitado y por la atención prestada.

Routes and footpaths

The borough of Los Silos has three main delimited walking routes: Cuevas Negras, Las Moradas, Talavera were farm, livestock breeding and forestry sites and the former still houses black skin and Andean potatoe crops. The routes have a large variety of different wildlife and flora, with “laurisilva”, heather and myrtle land and the odd dragon tree. Special attention should be paid to the large ironwood tree (Apollonias barbusana) on the Cuevas Negras footpath. It is common to see hunting birds in these areas, laurel pigeons, birds (blackbird, hoopoe, etc...), turtle dove, and reptiles like Gallotia Galloti lizard and green lizards, the Delande geko and skinks. Some of the caves house Madera bats (Pipistrellus maderensis) and long-tailed bats (Talarida teniotis).

Route 1: Cuevas Negras

Los Silos-Barranco de Cuevas Negras-Erjos.
Access: along the main road TF-142 Icod-Buenavista, entering the town, take the first turning on the left by the church Ntra Sra de La Luz and continue along Susana's street.
Time: 1 h., 45 min. (no rest).
Gradient: 900 m upwards / Length: approx. 6 Km.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: low.
Physical strengh: medium.
Possibility of diziness: none.

La Juncia

Los Silos-Barranco de Cuevas Negras-Erjos-La Juncia-Los Silos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 3 h., 15 min. (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 900 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: high.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: high.
Possibility of diziness: none.

Lomo Morín

Los Silos-Barranco de Cuevas Negras-El Barbusano-Tierra del Trigo- La Ladera- Los Silos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 1 h., 45 min. (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 500 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: high.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: medium.
Possibility of diziness: none.

This marks the start of the of this route.
The Cuevas Negras path was use in the past to travel from Los Silos to Santiago del Teide. It later rose to cattle track, connecting Los Silos to Erjos and hence to Guía de Isora. Many of sections were then cobbled, as they remain today. Some parts are very narrow, and others wider. There is likewise a combination of steep climbs and lengthy downwards paths. Some sections are now asphalted as in the case for the road from La Tierra del Trigo to La Juncia.

Route 2: Las Moradas

Los Silos-Las Moradas-Piedra de los Cochinos-Los Silos.
Access: along the main road TF-142 Icod-Buenavista, entering the town, take the first turning on the left by the church Ntra Sra de La Luz and continue along Susana's street.
Time: 2 h., 40 min. (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 750 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: medium.
Possibility of diziness: none.

Los Madroños

Los Silos-Las Moradas-Lomo El Sol-Monte del Agua-Erjos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 2 h., 45 min. (no rest).
Gradient: 900 m upwards.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: medium.
Possibility of diziness: none.

Madre del Agua

Los Silos-Las Moradas-Pico de Los Villanos-La Calabacera-Las Moradas-Los Silos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 3 h., (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 800 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: medium.
Possibility of diziness: none.

This marks the start of this route.
The Las Moradas pathway may have been named because of the existence of rooms in which the “guanches” used to lodge (Spanish: morar), probably not far from what are now empty and abandoned houses. The highlight in this area is the Rock Roque de las Moradas, at the foot of which is the Los Cochinos ravine. The Las Moradas ravine passes by the stone walls of old vegetable-growing fields, flanked by The Los Cochinos and Pasos ravines, and La Morada del Secretario.

Route 3: Talavera

Los Silos-Talavera-Las Canales (Valle del Palmar)-Buenavista.
Access: leaving the Town along the main road TF-142 Icod-Buenavista, just opposite the Petrol Station, there is a road by small children's park.
Time: 2 h., 15 min. (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 650 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: high.
Possibility of diziness: low.

Los Cardones

Los Silos-Talavera-Los Silos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 2 h., 45 min. (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 800 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: high.
Possibility of diziness: low.

El Secretario.

Los Silos-Talavera-Monte del Agua-Las Moradas-Los Silos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 2 h.,45 min (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 800 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: medium.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: medium.
Physical strengh: high.
Possibility of diziness: low.

Los Pasos

Los Silos-Barranco de Los Pasos-Los Silos.
Access: the same as the previous route.
Time: 1 h. (no rest).
Gradient: up and down, 250 m.
Difficulty:
Possibility of losing your way: high.
Possibility of risk of a dangerous fall: very high.
Physical strengh: low.
Possibility of diziness: probable.

This marks the start of this route.
Talavera, an old smallholding located in the area known as Lomo de Los Cardones, owes its name to Pedro de Talavera, one of the conquerors of Tenerife and owner of all this land. In ancient times it housed peasants who lived on what they could grow in the fields. It only had to inhabit buildings, significants examples of the island's rural architecture. There are also granaries, barns and hutches built annexed to the buildings or as look-out posts. The gable roofs, the stone or pumice stone walls, the orientation and arrangement of the doorways and few windows are elements typical of this peculiar architecture. The hamlet was completed with a small room for the only donkey, a few stone walls, a couple of threshing floors, a few wells and the straw cave. There are still some remains of these buildings, and much of the farmland is now covered by large areas of heather and mirtle woods, with some pines.
Even and uneven ground alternates along this route.

You will see variations such as a dirt tracks, cobbled roads and some stretches predominated by volcanic rock forming steps. Also characteristic of this route are steep climbs and long downward sections.

Sports and leisure

One of the most important leisure are the municipal swimming pools: located at El Puertito area. The two pools (one for adults and another for children), together with changing rooms and showers, a bar-restaurant and a small children's park, form part of a beautiful recreational complex.

There are plenty of other sports and leisure opportunities, such as the tennis courts, located in the Sibora housing estate, the Juan Valiente Municipal Stadium, equipped with artificial lawn, and the home of the Club Deportivo Juventud Silense, the “Alfonso García Ramos” Municipal Auditorium which has been used for concerts, film cycles, theatre and outdoor activities. The ex-Convent of Saint Sebastian also performs an interesting function in the cultural and educational life of Los Silos, diving centres Centro de Buceo Daute and Escuela-Club Sibora Isla Baja (Siboramar).