If you’re into lost places or graffiti art you should consider a visit to the Sanatorio de Abona at Abades, on the southern coast of Tenerife. Leprosy reached the island rather late and in 1943 it was decided to create a sanatorio with all you need: from different houses via hospitals to a church in Franco style. Prior to finishing the construction works leprosy could be defeated and the sanatoria became superfluous. Not a single person moved and was treated there. As the buildings were never finished and repurposed, Abades is today a ghost town close to the shore and tourist houses.
The houses are completely unsecured and access is officially forbidden, better watch your steps when walking through the ruins and exploring the various rooms of the sanatorio. As always in these cases, graffiti artists have taken the opportunity to decorated a lot of walls. But even the architectural structures of the hospital or the church – which is still in pretty good shape – are worth the small hike.
If you want to reach the Sanatorio de Abona by car you need to take the TF-1 road, leave at Faro de Poris and pass through the village. When reaching Punta de Abona you need to go off-road for some hundred meters on a clearly often used but unsigned path until you reach a road block and a small parking lot.
Sanatorio de Abona
Abades
Tenerife
Islas Canarias
Macaronesia
Africa
Spain
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