Monumento Atis Tirma

Monumento Atis Tirma stands beside Parque Doramas as a compact ensemble of bronze figures on stone bases. Manuel Bethencourt Santana installed the sculpture in 1981. Green patina and golden highlights catch the light across the worked surfaces, making each posture and contour easy to follow. The figures lean towards an imagined cliff. They portray Tasarte, Bentejuí and other aboriginal Canarians choosing to leap from Ansite fortress rather than surrender. Their cry, “Atis Tirma!”, appears with the meaning “for you, land!”, a farewell to their homeland.

Weather and structural damage later marked the bronze, including internal oxidation and damaged casting sections. A thorough restoration finished in 2012. Conservators sandblasted and cleaned each figure, removed compromised metal, and repaired the surfaces with homologated bronze. New 50-millimetre stainless-steel bolts replaced the original anchors. The renewed green patina with golden gleams recovered the intended colour and stabilised the sculpture. Look closely at the figures’ direction: their forward-leaning bodies preserve the instant before the leap, while the restored bronze catches the surrounding light.