The Cabildo of Fuerteventura has begun the final rehabilitation stage of the Manitaga Fountain, located in the municipality of Tuineje. This initiative aims to recover and enhance the traditional heritage associated with the agricultural, hydraulic, and ethnographic landscape of this emblematic enclave, considered a key exponent of the island's water culture.
The works, driven by the Cabildo's Public Works and Machinery Service through Gesplan and in collaboration with the Insular Water Council of Fuerteventura (Ciaf), include the restoration of dry stone walls, the adaptation of the path with accessibility criteria, and the cleaning of the fountain to facilitate natural water flow.
The project includes the restoration of the natural spring, beautification of its surroundings, removal of deposited flood material, construction of a stone and lime mortar retention tank, and reconstruction of dry stone hillside walls. These tasks are complemented by selective cleaning and pruning.
“"The Manitaga Fountain represents, in addition to a physical space of historical use, a meeting point for Fuerteventura's collective memory associated with water culture, the heroic agriculture developed under those same principles, and the traditional landscape and idiosyncrasy that were shaped over centuries and define Fuerteventura's population today."
The project also includes preserving oral memory through audiovisual documentation of testimonies from elderly individuals who knew the fountain's use and the cultivation areas. The goal is to pass on this knowledge for future dissemination and interpretation efforts regarding Fuerteventura's water culture.
The Manitaga Fountain is an exponent of the island's unique agricultural techniques that have facilitated the survival of its population and which today constitute not only agricultural heritage but also an iconic and defining landscape of Fuerteventura, actively being rehabilitated by the Cabildo.
