15th Jan 2022 @ 11:01 am

The Cabildo has replaced the César Manrique sculpture at the roundabout at Los Pocillos in Puerto del Carmen.

The sculpture is titled El Róbalo, a local word for the sea bass, and is an 11-metre-high constriction featuring a shoal of forty multicoloured, geometrical metal “fish”, each weighing from seven to 13 kilograms. It was removed for restoration in November 2020 and has now been returned.

Present at the ceremony were Cabildo President María Dolores Corujo, Tías Mayor José Juan Cruz and the president of the César Manrique Foundation, José Juan Ramirez.

Corujo said “The roundabout at Puerto del Carmen is the perfect place to locate this sculpture, because of the special affection that our artist had for this coast, the inspiration he received from our shores, and because the numerous visitors who come to this resort will be able to experience and enjoy the work of Manrique at first hand.”.

El Róbalo is Puerto del Carmen’s second fish-related sculpture after the installation of the sculpture dedicated to Felix at the Biosfera roundabout in 2019. Felix was a huge grouper who was well-known to scuba divers who visited the reef off the coast of Playa Chica.

Manrique was fascinated by fish and his paintings based on local sea life have been the inspiration for murals at schools and the yacht club in Arrecife, as well as the subject of a children’s colouring book.

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