La Guirra Lime Kilns

Local name: Hornos de Cal de la Guirra

Three seafront lime kilns with a cistern and lime-burners' rooms, the largest with a stair to its top.

The La Guirra Lime Kilns stand at the mouth of the Miraflor ravine (Barranco de Miraflor), on the cove of Caleta de La Guirra beside the beach and port of Caleta de Fuste, in the municipality of Antigua on Fuerteventura. The complex comprises three kilns, a warehouse of about 100 m², a house for the lime burners and a buried cistern of about 300 m³ that collected rainwater. The lime burnt here left by ship, and the ships brought basic food supplies in exchange.

Historical landmark

Accessibility: Wheelchair-accessible entrance and parking at ground level; the top of the largest kiln is reached only by steps.
Parking: Car parks about 110 m and 150 m away in a straight line; wheelchair-accessible parking available.
Difficulty: None to speak of: the kilns stand on the seafront promenade. The only climb is the stair to the top of the largest kiln.
Transport: Nearest bus stop: on the FV-2 (stop "Fv-2, 38"), about 230 m away in a straight line.
Advance booking: Not needed.
Hours: Open 24 hours, every day.
Address: P.º Marítimo Promenade, 35610, Las Palmas, Spain

What makes it special

Climb the stair of the largest kiln and you stand over its mouths: hollow shafts you can look straight down into, with the ocean right beside you. That kiln has three mouths, two facing south-west and an older one facing north, all served by the one stair, and a mast on the top platform once worked a pulley boom for fast loading. From up there the coastline opens out on both sides.

The second kiln, the oldest, was charged up a large ramp, probably by animals hauling limestone and coal. Its masonry walls are two to three metres thick, more than a car is wide, packed with rubble so the heat of burning would not crack them. Corrals and rooms for the lime burners and their livestock stand beside it. Along the shore between the first and third kilns runs a row of three rooms where the burners lived. The smallest kiln, a stepped cone, sits closest to the sea.

Good to know

The way to the top is a flight of steps, so wheelchairs stay at ground level; the entrance itself is wheelchair accessible.
Toilets are about 170 m away in a straight line. There is no drinking-water point nearby, so carry water.
The kiln tops and the upper platform have no shade; in strong sun bring a hat.
The kilns sit right beside the shopping centre, with the beach and restaurants of Caleta de Fuste nearby, so a visit fits into a walk along the promenade.

Getting there

The kilns stand on the seafront promenade of Caleta de Fuste, right outside the shopping centre, with the beach and the port nearby. The nearest car parks are about 110 m and 150 m away in a straight line, and the nearest bus stop, on the FV-2, about 230 m. From any of them the last stretch is on foot along the promenade. Once there, the stair on the largest kiln is the only climb.

Best time to visit

Best: early morning, when the sun comes up over the sea in front of the kilns.

Avoid: the middle of the day, when the stone and the upper platform sit in full sun.

Caleta de Fuste faces east, so the low morning light falls on the seaward faces of the kilns, while at midday there is no shade anywhere on the structures.

Sun & daylight

Castle

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