Santa Cruz’s most famous cat turns 50 years old

His green eyes, sharp whiskers and brown skin. Its habitat, always hidden among the vegetation of the García Sanabria Park. And his age, unusual for a cat: 50 years old! These are the main characteristics of one of the most famous, representative and special felines of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. But it is not a flesh-and-blood animal. It is a sculpture of stone, iron and glass, a replica of the one designed by the Canarian surrealist artist Óscar Domínguez, in France in the 50s, and erected in the heart of the capital of Tenerife, in 1973, during the First International Exhibition of Street Sculptures.

Y despite being several meters tall, it is difficult to find the whereabouts of this cat, don’t believe it. It is not enough to stroll through the busiest areas of the park to be able to find it. Its location is not within easy reach from the main streets of Garcia Sanabria, nor is it on the edge of those spiral-shaped side trails. To get to the so-called “Monumento al gato” (Monument to the cat) you have to leave the Arístides Ferrer promenade and access a dirt road and stone tiles in the middle of trees, palms and plants. Something that makes watching them an even more attractive experience.

That first international sculpture exhibition -which even had a second part two decades later, in 1994- is one of the best things that could have happened to the urban landscape of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Because it is not only the work of Óscar Domínguez, today this city has about thirty sculptures and artistic representations dotted around its geography, all of them daughters of these two international exhibitions. Fourteen are spread over the 67,230 square meters of the García Sanabria site. But another twenty-two can be seen along the Rambla, Francisco La Roche Avenue, the Plaza del Príncipe or the parks of Las Indias and La Granja, among other locations in the capital.

The imposing “Warrior” by Henry Moore, the symbolic “Femme Bouteille” by Joan Miró, the “Femme Bouteille” by Joan Miró, the Xavier Corberó’s vindictive “Ejecutores y Ejecutados” or the iconic “Lady Tenerife” by Martín Chirino are some examples of these works that have become part of the daily life of the people of Chicharras during the last five decades.

And for tourists and visitors who want to make their routes through the city jumping from sculpture to sculpture -or even residents eager to rediscover these jewels-, know that we have at our disposal a specific interpretation center in the García Sanaría park itself and also the website esculturaenlacalle.com.