There is a song by Silvana Estrada that we love and it goes like this;

“Que por ti me voy al Norte,

Que por ti me voy al Sur,

That it doesn’t matter if there’s a destination

As long as you’re on the road …….”.

There are places that are PLACES.

We like the north of the island, because in the last few years it has shown itself to be an active,  young and enterprising society. Its economic model is based on water sports, small hotel establishments, holiday homes, wellness activities, art, small developers and builders, hotels, independent professionals who support this society…

This dynamism has generated an interaction between residents and tourists, digital nomads, families with children, a vibrant social life, festivals, beach, sea, sun, …

The north has its own identity, which is different from other areas of the island, with a more active, more distributive, less stagnant and less directed model. All of this is carried out by a civil society to which the public authorities have no choice but to adhere. This is a place that is  A PLACE.

Why is the North different?

There are other places on the island or in the Canary Islands that are not assimilated to PLACES. They are urban spaces or tourist areas that lack their own identity or personality. There is a work by the artist Marc Augé, “Non-Places, spaces of anonymity, An anthropology of over modernity” that defines these kind of areas as spaces always in movement, spaces of transit, artificial spaces that without individuals would have no meaning. These places are spaces that lead us to personal individuality, places where there is no room for relationships between individuals. But these are not just PLACES.

Edward Hopper knew how to portray these impersonal spaces that are non-places like no one else. Some people look for a certain identity in the destination, with vibrant social activity, sport, social interaction, with small restaurants and businesses, which is difficult to obtain with the coldness of a mere hotel plant managed by multiple companies, with an airport atmosphere in which wherever you go you find yourself in transit in a non-place.

The northern model is not perfect. None is. Like all models in their purest form, it generates conflict. However, a place where tourists of all kinds, from hotels or holiday homes, and residents mix, live together and even fall in love has proven to be more active and distributive.

While not perfect, this model is not the efficient cause of all the island’s tourism or homelessness ills, or any other that has been attributed to it of late. We are sure that those who have to define tourism policy in the coming years will make a real analysis far removed from presumptions or data or interests that are difficult to transpose to this place. And they will try to correct the existing defects but not the essence of the place. They know the place, they are locals and excellent professionals.

That is why we like the NORTH. We understand that this model is more agile, more modern, adapted to a very changing social reality and, without prejudice to recognise its defects, we think it is more successful, more cheerful, more beautiful.

We are more PLACE.
We like this Place. We Law you.