Canary Islands 2025, Spain

On the road from Vallehermoso down to the beach, an angular concrete building catches the eye on the right. Behind it is the Vallehermoso Botanical Garden.

The building belonged to David Bramwell (25 November 1942 – 20 January 2022), a British professor for plant biodiversity. He was director of the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Gran Canaria from 1974 to 2012 and was committed to the conservation of the flora of the Canary Islands.

In 2000, the futuristic-looking main building and the garden was built under the direction of the architect Fernando Menis and with the help of EU funds and has rarely been open since then. 1.86 million euro were invested in 16.219 square metre, plant species from five continents including plants from all the canary and endemic in la gomera were initially planted.

Locals reported that furniture was still in its packaging and was waiting to be unveiled inside; for years, the paths from the street into the garden were blocked off with bars.

Nevertheless, resourceful visitors always found a way in and ended up in an enchanted, albeit increasingly wild, world. In keeping with the name of the garden, descubrimiento, which means discovery, you can wander around like the conquerors of the New World once did and find not only (endemic) Canarian vegetation but also useful and ornamental plants from the same world.

In June 2017, the island government unanimously decided to reopen the Botanical Garden. At the beginning of 2021, everything was very well maintained and tidy, but not accessible from the main entrance. Currently, you can just walk in, but the building is still locked. Czytaj więcej