Valverde (Spain)

Valverde municipality
coat of arms	Map of the Canary Islands
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Canary Islands
Province :	Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Island:	El Hierro
Coordinates	27 ° 48 ′  N , 17 ° 55 ′  W Coordinates: 27 ° 48 ′  N , 17 ° 55 ′  W
Height :	571  msnm
Area :	103.65 km²
Residents :	5,005 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	48.29 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	38900
Municipality number  ( INE ):	38048
administration
Website :	www.aytovalverde.org
Location of the municipality

Valverde is one of the three municipalities of the Canary Island El Hierro and occupies the eastern part of the island. Valverde is also the name of the island's capital.

Places of the community

The population figures in brackets are from 2011.

• Caleta (281)
• Echedo (213)
• Erese (189)
• Guarazoca (352)
• Isora (404)
• Mocanal (952)
• Las Playas (110)
• Puerto de La Estaca (111)
• San Andrés (245)
• Tamaduste (286)
• Tiñor (31)
• Temijiraque (188)
• Valverde (1686)

history

The Bimbachen village used to be called Amoco . The current name Valverde ( Spanish : Green Valley ) is true at least in spring, but perhaps the first Spanish settlers also renamed the place to remember their homeland, because there are several places with this name in Spain. La Villa , which means small town, is what the Herreños call their town. It became the seat of the count's administrator at the end of the 15th century. Although there was an upper class of the population from politics, the church and the military, there were only a few, and so pasture farming continued to determine rural life. In July 1899 a major fire destroyed the town hall of Valverde and the archives of the islands, which have been kept since 1553. Significant documents were wrested from the island and largely rendered historyless.

The Garoé tree, steeped in history and still important to the population, is immortalized in the municipality's coat of arms, as is the island's coat of arms . This tree still donated water in times of drought.

Cityscape

In the still more rural capital of El Hierro, the most important buildings such as town hall and court, hospital and supermarkets, a grammar school and other educational institutions, music schools and places where there are theaters and concerts are mostly located along the two main streets, but characterize the place more the vegetable gardens, chickens and goats. The place itself, at about 600 meters above sea level, is the only capital of the Canary Islands that has no direct access to the sea and therefore does not have its own port. It extends over the slopes of four mountain peaks and consists of the lower district of El Cabo , the town center of La Calle and the upper town of Tesine . Valverde is the transport hub between the port and the airport.

climate

Valverde can exude a typically southern atmosphere when the warm sun shines uncovered from the sky. Often, however, dense trade wind fog (called: bruma ) hangs over the high city and forms a cool, damp gray veil under which it can also be stormy. The place can turn into an inhospitable place in a few moments. A few meters further down the weather can look completely different.

Worth seeing

• The island's main three-nave church, Santa María de la Concepción, dates back to the 18th century. Its foundation walls go back to the middle of the 16th century. It used to serve as a refuge from pirate attacks. For the 1999 Bajada , the largest island festival in honor of the Virgen de los Reyes , it and the rectory opposite were restored. Inside it has a Canarian wooden ceiling in the Mudejar style. On the baroque altar is the statue of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción .
• The Town Hall ( Ayuntamiento ) is a large Canarian style building. It was only built in the 1930s.
• The Ermita de Santiago chapel , the oldest church in El Hierro. When this building did not exist, Saint Santiago was venerated in the Cueva de la Polvora cave .
• In the Archaeological Museum you can see old ceramics.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).