Hermigua's Pescante: the story of La Gomera's suspended harbour

On La Gomera's northern coast, four enormous pillars rise above the Atlantic near Hermigua. They are not the remnants of a road bridge. They tell the story of a farming valley that needed a route to the outside world long before modern roads and a protected port transformed the island.

1907: when a valley built its own port

In the early twentieth century, Hermigua grew bananas and tomatoes for export. Its steep, exposed shoreline made it difficult for ships to berth. In 1907 local entrepreneurs founded La Unión, initially funded with 60,000 pesetas, to build a sea-loading facility near Santa Catalina in the area known as El Peñón.

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Francisco Trujillo y Grasso was a key promoter. Between 1907 and 1908 the first pescante took shape, combining warehouses, narrow rails, steam machinery and a projecting metal arm of roughly 32 metres. Produce travelled down from the valley and was moved by small carts before being lowered to boats serving larger merchant steamers.

A machine suspended above the Atlantic

The system could carry people too. Passengers were transferred in a suspended basket or cabin, with workers helping coordinate the movement between shore and boat. Imagine embarking on a journey across the Atlantic by being lowered over the waves instead of walking through a ferry terminal.

Around 1926, the British company Fyffes added an aerial transporter of approximately 700 metres linking its banana-packing facilities to the pescante. Baskets moving along cables accelerated the flow of fruit. The structure on the coast was therefore only one link in a much larger network of farms, roads, machinery and export trade.

The second loading pier and today's remains

A second, more ambitious pescante was begun during the 1920s, with substantial concrete supports and plans for a much longer loading arm. Economic turmoil and changing transport systems prevented completion. The striking pillars visible today principally belong to this unfinished second scheme, not the original metal arm, which was later dismantled.

Improved roads and the development of San Sebastián's port eventually made these installations redundant. Hermigua now offers an evocative piece of industrial heritage. Enjoy the view from safe public areas; do not climb unstable remains or approach the shoreline during heavy swell.