According to history, La Orotava had as many as 13 gofio mills, to which people from all over the valley and even from distant lands would come in search of this highly prized food. This blessed powder has alleviated countless hardships and brought joy to times of great hardship. Irrigation ditches, archways, buckets, hoppers, spouts, chabocos (water channels), small reservoirs, drinking troughs, fountains, and laundry sinks stand as guardians of a not-so-distant past, a way of life and subsistence in which water played a central role since the 16th century.

On this tour, titled “To the Mills of the Town, to Grind Gofio We Came,” we pay tribute to the hydraulic heritage that still lives on in these streets of northern Tenerife and to the Canary Islands’ staple food, after five centuries of history. Harnessing the power of water, the mills generated the energy needed to perform the magical task of grinding roasted grain. Ten of these mills still stand today, situated along an imaginary “water path,” the canal that connects them, where public washing places and watering troughs were also located, now considered ethnographic treasures.

During our tour, we will be able to uncover their secrets and interesting facts, discovering a part of the splendid Villa de La Orotava that seems to have fallen into a sweet slumber, but which awakens each morning to the sound of the wheels of the two mills that still dance to the rhythm of their work. We will also have the opportunity to taste this delicious delicacy and enjoy an exclusive visit to one of the mills.