The earth, hard and arid, made the islander industrious, tenacious and ingenious. He learnt to move it, to transport it and to cultivate it; he turned the scorched fields into fertile orchards, to transform them into fertile meadows with the water from his entrails that gushes out in ditches, canals, fountains, cisterns, washing places… And industriousness engendered another condition: sobriety.

Sobriety contrasts with the magnitude of the landscape, with its vertiginous profile from summit to coast, facing a horizon that encompasses the island of La Gomera and the Atlantic Ocean, the great window to the world with no other stop than the American continent, where the heart of many people from the region is, who returned with their tenths and dots that germinated in meetings of verseadores. Or the recognition of Latin Americans for figures such as Saint Brother Pedro, whose beneficent work is mixed with love of nature, on his island and in the countries on the other side of the Atlantic.

Emigration from the Canary Islands to the New World began with Columbus’ first voyage, starting a human exchange of enormous proportions and consequences. And among the plants brought with them were, in addition to vines, bananas, yams, aloe and the plant that was to serve as the initial economic foundation for life on the new continent: sugar cane.

The Canary Islanders played a major role in this Atlantic transit and took part in the founding of many American cities, such as the city of Montevideo. The fundamental feature of Canarian emigration, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, channelled mainly to Cuba and Venezuela, was always the human quality of its elements.

For this reason, this region looks to the horizon with longing and emotion, since part of the soul of the islanders is in the nature of their isolation, of their homeland, but also in the American odyssey of many generations, as can be seen in many of the buildings and the activities or products that can be found in these midlands.

The great variety of Cultural Interest Assets that exist in the villages of the region, together with the protected natural spaces, or the periodic events that show the variety of ethnographic elements, the festive and hospitable spirit, or the singular agricultural products of km 0, with a quality and characteristics that make them unique for the visitor’s palate.

Getting to know the region of Chasna-Isora is not a challenge, nor a competition, it is an opportunity for life, to live intensely with all the senses and enjoy the emotions that can be produced by the sight of a landscape or a building, a giant pine tree or the impressive cliffs that plunge into the Atlantic in a sunset with an infinity of tones that mutate before our eyes.

It is also the scent of pine resin, of the flowers that adorn the houses and gardens, of freshly toasted gofio, smells that will remain forever in our memories. Another unforgettable sensation is the feel of the earthenware slabs, with their centuries-old wisdom applied to the volcanic earth and the water from the springs that drink from the melting snows of Mount Teide. Not forgetting the taste of fruits, meats, mojos or tasty stews, washed down with wines from unique grape varieties grown at different altitudes with different tones and nuances of flavour. And listen to the silence on every promontory, that absence of noise that is only disturbed by the music of the breeze among the pine trees, or those voices that recite punto cubano or sing isas and folías in the parranderos gatherings of a population whose language is music, the language that makes the Canary Islander famous throughout the world.

The challenge for the region is that the midlands can rescue and disseminate their great heritage, thanks to the potential of a tourism that has transformed the coastline with a high quality offer, also attracted by the natural charms of the midlands and the peaks of the island.