Publications
Del bullicio al vacío: transformaciones urbanas y declive de las salas de cine en Santa Cruz de Tenerife y San Cristóbal de La Laguna (1970-2025)
A profound shift in urban dynamics and cultural memory is revealed through the decline of cinema theaters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna from 1970 to 2025. The study demonstrates that this transformation goes beyond changes in consumer behavior, highlighting a significant mutation in public leisure spaces and the symbolic void left by cinema in contemporary cities. By integrating geography, history, and visual culture, the research reconstructs the stages of theater decline—from neighborhood cinemas to multiplexes—and analyzes both the logic behind their obsolescence and practices of resistance, such as heritage preservation and film festivals. The case of Tenerife serves as a key example for understanding broader urban cultural transformations.
Evaluación del impacto de la designación como Patrimonio Mundial en las dinámicas urbanas: estudio de caso en la ciudad de San Cristóbal de La Laguna / Assessing the impact of World Heritage designation on urban dynamics: a case study in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna
World Heritage designation has complex and contradictory impacts on urban dynamics, as demonstrated by the case of San Cristóbal de La Laguna. While it enhances visibility and strengthens city identity, particularly in historic centers, it also accelerates selective demographic, economic, and urban changes. The study combines discursive analysis of administrative documents with statistical examination of demographic, urban, and tourist indicators, along with cartographic analysis, to identify key transformations since the city's inscription in 1999. This research provides a critical perspective on global processes affecting other UNESCO-listed cities.
Las comunidades guanches del Barranco del Agua de Dios y sus rituales funerarios (Tegueste-San Cristóbal de La Laguna). Un barranco para la vida y la muerte en Tenerife (Islas Canarias)
The Barranco del Agua de Dios, spanning the municipalities of Tegueste and San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife, emerges as the most densely occupied archaeological site of the Canary Islands during the aboriginal Guanche period. This study reveals that over a century of excavations and surveys has uncovered more than 100 recorded sites along its route, establishing it as a critical corridor for settlement and ritual activity in northeastern Tenerife. The research synthesizes findings on domestic occupation models across the barranco's sectors while introducing preliminary analyses of thermally altered human remains discovered in multiple caves, shedding new light on Guanche funerary practices. This work combines historical archaeological data with recent discoveries to redefine our understanding of this significant landscape as both a vital hub for life and death.
Natural Interaction in Virtual Heritage: Enhancing User Experience with Large Language Models
A novel virtual reality (VR) system enhances user experience at UNESCO World Heritage Site San Cristóbal de La Laguna by integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) to enable natural, unscripted dialogue with virtual humans. This approach, combining Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech synthesis, prioritizes usability, immersion, and dialogue quality while addressing user-centered design principles. Preliminary studies highlighted the importance of historically adapted language and feedback mechanisms for virtual guides, with a qualitative test revealing preferences for gender selection options. Although limitations such as latency in dialogue generation and reduced performance in non-English languages persist, the research offers a generalist methodology for unscripted virtual human interactions in VR applications, providing actionable recommendations for future implementations.
Sobre la desaparecida capilla de San Bernardo en el convento de San Diego del Monte de La Laguna
A rare glimpse into the vanished chapel of San Bernardo, once part of the convent of San Diego del Monte in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, is preserved through historical analysis. Founded in 1677 by priest Bernardo Martín de Fleitas and later gifted to the Counts of Valle de Salazar, the chapel was abandoned after the convent's closure, leaving only fragmentary remains. This study reconstructs its history, examining surviving elements and documenting its transformation under the second count’s revitalization efforts. By analyzing archival records and physical remnants, researchers uncover the chapel’s architectural significance and cultural legacy within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of La Laguna.
Ciudades de frontera: transversalidad de los paisajes cultural y urbano entre San Cristóbal de La Laguna y Panamá
A comparative analysis of colonial urbanism in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands) and Panamá reveals that the traditional view of Hispanic urban planning as a conscious, planned process is incomplete. The study challenges this assumption by examining both sites—closely spaced in time but differing significantly in context—and identifies key interpretative keys for understanding colonial urban phenomena within the broader Castilian Atlantic colonization. This approach sheds new light on how frontier dynamics shaped urban landscapes during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, integrating historical, archaeological, and cartographic evidence to redefine our understanding of territorial occupation in this pivotal period.
El robo de los objetos patrimoniales según la documentación encontrada en el Archivo Histórico Diocesano de San Cristóbal de La Laguna (AHDSCLL)
A previously unpublished documentation from the Diocesan Historical Archive of San Cristóbal de La Laguna reveals significant thefts of religious and cultural heritage, including movable goods, money, and wax, spanning 64 years (1831-1895) in the Nivariense Diocese. This rare record, found within marriage dispensation files—specifically packet number 396—highlights the loss of valuable objects from Tenerife, La Palma, and La Gomera, contributing to a better understanding of the erosion of religious artistic heritage in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife during the 19th century. The study leverages archival research to uncover these historical thefts, offering insights into the preservation challenges faced by UNESCO World Heritage Sites like San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
From Maps to 3D Models: Reconstructing the Urban Landscape of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in the 16th Century
A groundbreaking 3D reconstruction of San Cristóbal de La Laguna reveals the city's 16th-century urban landscape with unprecedented accuracy. Using Leonardo Torriani's 1588 map as the foundation, researchers developed a map-based workflow that integrates historical sources and current data to balance fidelity with modernization. This methodology not only reconstructs one of the first non-fortified Spanish colonial cities but also sets a precedent for applying similar techniques to other European maps from the same era. The findings highlight the potential of 3D visualization technologies in preserving and studying historical urban landscapes that have been lost or altered over time.
Photovoltaic potential of public buildings in a world Heritage city: The case of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands, Spain)
A study on the photovoltaic potential of public buildings in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a UNESCO World Heritage city in Tenerife (Canary Islands), reveals significant capacity for solar energy generation. The research analyzed sports centers, educational centers, and civic centers under two scenarios: optimal and maximum production. Findings indicate that the city's buildings could generate up to 8,811 MWh annually under the maximum scenario, with a 771% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to conventional energy sources. In the optimal scenario, 56% of energy would be generated, with 31% consumed on-site and 25% fed into the grid, while CO2 emissions would decrease by 75%. The study highlights the trade-off between economic profitability in optimal systems and environmental benefits in maximum systems, emphasizing the potential for clean energy transition in island-dependent regions.
«El Cercado del Marqués», de frustrada vocación de ciudad-jardín a gentrificación en San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
"El Cercado del Marqués" in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, exemplifies the transition from a failed garden city concept to gentrification. Originally envisioned as a peripheral urban expansion with unifamiliar dwellings and green spaces, this 1930s project by architect J.E. Marrero Regalado reflected regionalist, eclectic, and rationalist architectural trends. However, its development diverged from the garden city ideal when one parcel was reclassified for collective use in 1965, paving the way for high-density construction. Recent plans by a major developer to build a residential complex with garages threaten the area's morphology, increasing traffic, reducing green spaces, and accelerating gentrification—a process that could erase its garden city heritage.
Ecological transition in a World Heritage City: The case of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands)
A UNESCO World Heritage City, San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Canary Islands), has achieved a 4% to 48% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions between 2009 and 2019 through targeted interventions. This progress, driven by the city's commitment to the EU's Climate and Energy Pact, highlights effective strategies for urban sustainability in fossil fuel-dependent regions. The study analyzed emissions across four sectors—buildings, public lighting, transportation, and agriculture, forestry, and fishing—and demonstrated that a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) could further reduce emissions by 64% by 2030 if fully implemented. This case offers valuable insights for other oceanic islands aiming to meet ambitious climate targets.
Promoting the heritage of the city of San Cristobal de La Laguna through a temporal link with a 16th century map
A novel web application successfully geolocates modern addresses of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a UNESCO World Heritage city in the Canary Islands, onto its first known 16th-century map. By employing non-parametric natural transform interpolation, researchers achieved high accuracy with a global mean error of just 4.9 meters, reducing to 3.2 meters within the historic city center. This tool offers a unique temporal link between past and present, enhancing heritage promotion and public engagement. The application demonstrated robust performance, handling 50 concurrent users with a latency of 1.4 seconds, making it both precise and user-friendly.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Islas Canarias): nos gusta el patrimonio, pero sin el patrimonio
A study on San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tenerife, reveals that while the designation has brought economic benefits, particularly through tourism-driven services, it has also exacerbated inequality and threatened local identity. The research highlights how expert-led governance often overlooks community perceptions, leading to mismanagement of heritage and unsustainable development models. This finding is supported by a recent ICOMOS Spain report, which corroborates long-standing concerns raised by civil society. The study underscores the need for inclusive governance that balances heritage preservation with local needs.
An Interactive 3D Application of a House from the XVI Century in San Cristóbal de Laguna as a Case Study for the Dissemination of Cultural Heritage
A groundbreaking interactive 3D application showcases a 16th-century house in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, offering an immersive exploration of colonial architecture and cultural heritage. This virtual reconstruction, based on historical documentation, allows users to examine construction systems and urban planning from the era when the city was first mapped in 1588 by Leonardo Torriani. The application integrates human-like virtual characters and WebGL technology, providing a dynamic tool for both education and preservation efforts. San Cristóbal de La Laguna's significance as a UNESCO World Heritage site stems from its role as the first non-fortified Spanish colonial city, serving as a model for American urban development.
Analysis of digital images with DStretch as a support for the virtual restoration of an historical mural painting in San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Virtual restoration of lost 18th-century mural paintings in San Agustín Church, part of the UNESCO World Heritage city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain, has been achieved using DStretch image analysis. This free software, typically used for rock art research, employs decorrelation processes to enhance image readability and support objective virtual reintegration. The study demonstrates that digital documentation and advanced image processing can effectively recover historical artwork damaged by a 1964 fire, offering a rigorous methodology for preserving cultural heritage.
Briófitos epífitos en San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Researchers identified 17 species of epiphytic bryophytes (3 liverworts and 14 mosses) on 28% of trees surveyed across urban areas in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, including plazas and parks. This study highlights the diversity and distribution of bryophytes in urban environments, providing insights into their ecological adaptations and the host plants that support them. The findings contribute to understanding bryophyte biodiversity in urban settings, which is crucial for conservation efforts in World Heritage Sites like San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
El turismo cultural en una Ciudad Patrimonio de la Humanidad: El caso de la ciudad de San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, España)
A significant portion of tourists visiting San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tenerife, are drawn to its cultural attractions despite the island's reputation for mass tourism centered on sun and beach. This study reveals that cultural tourism plays a pivotal role in diversifying the region's offerings, with tourists exhibiting distinct sociodemographic profiles, behaviors, and motivations during their visits. Conducted by the University of La Laguna, the research analyzed survey data collected from tourists at the end of their stay to assess key factors influencing their experience. The findings underscore the potential for cultural tourism to enhance the economic and cultural value of heritage sites in high-traffic tourist destinations.
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