Two British tourists caught risking their lives taking selfies on Tenerife’s infamous ‘Building of Death’
Two British tourists have been filmed walking just centimetres from the edge of the abandoned Añaza hotel structure in Tenerife, known locally as the “building of death”, where a 13-year-old girl fell and died just a few weeks ago. The footage, shows them with mobile phones in hand and without any safety measures.
Construction of the now-notorious hotel began in 1973 but was halted two years later. Standing 22 storeys high on deteriorated foundations, the concrete skeleton has been linked to five fatalities since it was abandoned, even though it is fenced off to prevent people from entering it.
According to the British press, police removed the tourists from the site after receiving an alert from municipal workers. Officers reportedly warned the pair they could face fines of around €600.
The intruders are believed to have entered by breaking through a metal barrier and ignoring warning signs around the perimeter.
A dangerous attraction
In recent years, the unfinished hotel has become a magnet for social media thrill-seekers, urban explorers and young people engaging in risky activities, despite repeated neighbourhood complaints and calls for its immediate demolition.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s Urban Planning Authority has now approved the initial stages of a compulsory expropriation order for the derelict property. The move, which will be formally notified to the two registered ownership entities, Comunidad de Bienes Santa María and Promociones y Servicios Los Guíos (Progrisa), comes after the building failed to meet its legally required social function and lacks any valid authorisation.
The city council fenced off the area and installed multilingual warning signs in 2018, alongside attempts to identify the owners and begin the necessary steps to secure or remove the structure.
With the expropriation process advancing, officials hope the long-awaited demolition of one of Tenerife’s most hazardous landmarks will soon be realised.
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