What to see in La Palma | The Holy Fountain of La Palma

Do you want to feel the magua (“pena”, as the Canarians would say) of a historic place on La Palma? Here we leave you one of the most historic of the beautiful island.

On the coast of Fuencaliente, the Fuente Santa de la Palma was a hot spring spring. It is said in the past tense because it was buried in lava after the eruption of the San Antonio volcano in 1677.

The Holy Fountain was located on a high cliff near the beach of Callaos, where two tidal pools were formed. These ponds stood out for the therapies that were carried out there with the sick. Such was the popularity of this fountain that patients from all over Europe and America came to the island to cure their ailments, including syphilis, leprosy, rheumatism, osteoarthritis, and any wound in need of healing. This water was transported in vats and sold in small containers.

The Fuente Santa made La Palma the largest island of the Canary Islands, after the high wealth generated. It became so famous that its cures made it the most famous spa in the Atlantic.

After the catastrophe caused by the lava, this source was buried under stone. This generated a revolution on the island and divided it between those in favor of rescuing it and those in favor of leaving it buried.

The source was tirelessly searched for more than three centuries. At first, the sick and ‘palmeros’ who had the memory of the location of the fountain collaborated. Finally, a well was drilled that reached one of the two ponds, 70 meters away.

In 2005, this source was finally found by a team of engineers from the General Directorate of Water of the Government of the Canary Islands, through a 200-meter-long tunnel that at sea level allowed them to reach the pools where the water from the thermal spring flowed.

The Oliver de Rodés Laboratory in Barcelona analyzed these waters to discover the reason for these cures, concluding that the water was chlorinated sodium carbogaseous.

Today, this source is a unique specialty in Spain and its waters are among the best in Europe due to its high salt content, temperature, and carbon dioxide. There are many plans and projects for this fountain, among them the architect Federico Soriano has planned to use this natural terrain to develop pools and grottoes that evoke the original spa.

Now that you know the history about this place on the island, book your apartment and rental car to enjoy a few days in paradise.

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