Tesjuate
Tesjuate is one of those hamlets in the interior of Fuerteventura where the landscape, history and tradition continue to dialogue in silence. Belonging to the municipality of Puerto del Rosario, the village sits in the fertile environment that is drawing the Barranco de Rio Cabras, a natural axis that has conditioned for centuries the economic and social life of this area of the island.
A territory linked to water, land and livestock
Since its origins, Tesjuate has been deeply linked to goat farming, cereal agriculture, especially barley, and the collection of barrilla, a fundamental plant for the production of soda in the past. The presence of the Cabras River Ravine, historically considered one of the most plentiful of Fuerteventura, also led to the installation of tanneries dedicated to the tanning of skins, an activity now disappeared but key to the traditional economy of the place.
First historical references
The first documentary mentions of Tesjuate appear in the French cartography of the second half of the 18th century, where it is mentioned under the name of Teguate. In a report of 1772, elaborated for the General Archive of Simancas, the nucleus appears referred to as Tejuacén, with a population of only eleven neighbors, a reflection of a small but already consolidated settlement.
In 1787, with the ecclesiastical reorganization of the island and the creation of independent parish beneficiaries, Tesjuate was integrated into the Beneficio de Casillas del Ángel, along with other historical pagos such as Tefía, La Ampuyenta, Llanos de la Concepción or Triquivijate, which confirms its importance within the rural fabric of the old Herbania.
Emigration and difficult times
The harshness of life in Fuerteventura and the economic decline of the nineteenth century caused an intense emigration to America. Tesjuate was no stranger to this phenomenon. Entire families sold their land in unfavorable conditions to try to survive on the other side of the Atlantic. Some never made it to embark, victims of deceit and abuse, losing both their properties and the opportunity to emigrate.
Historical documents record land purchase and sale operations in Tesjuate linked to these clandestine expeditions to the Río de la Plata, a dark episode that deeply marked the collective memory of many villages in the interior of Majorca.
Tesjuate through romantic travelers
During the second half of the nineteenth century, Fuerteventura began to be visited by European romantic travelers. Among them was Olivia Stone, who left a valuable description of Tesjuate in 1884. In her writings she speaks of a surprisingly flowery landscape, the course of the Cabras River, humble houses built with mud and stone, and an austere peasant life but deeply linked to the environment.
Stone also mentions the existence of three wells, with slightly brackish water, and two crosses located next to the ravine, elements that are still part of the local imaginary and tradition.
The Tesjuate Crosses and popular tradition
According to oral tradition, these crosses commemorate the death of a priest and an altar boy who were swept away by a flood when they went to administer last rites. Every eve of the Day of the Cross, on May 3, the neighbors recover the old custom of decorating them with flowers, tarajal branches, spices and palm leaves, keeping alive one of the most emotional traditions of the village.
Water as an engine of change
In 1894 the society La Esperanza was created, with the objective of taking advantage of the waters of the Barranco de Río Cabras at the height of Tesjuate. From there they were channeled through pipes to the then Puerto Cabras, supplying farms, the church square and garden areas near the old cemetery. This project underlines the strategic importance of Tesjuate as a water enclave on an island marked by water scarcity.
The name of Tesjuate
The toponymy of the village has been debated for centuries. According to philologist Marcial Morera, the origin would be in the Amazonian term Tiggaten, formed by ti ( feminine plural article) and gatten (goats), which reinforces the historical relation of the place with the shepherding. The current form Tesjuate was consolidated by a clerical error in the signage, replacing the old variants Teguate or Tejuate.
Tesjuate today
Today, Tesjuate is still a quiet village of simple people, where the rural landscape, silence and historical memory coexist with everyday life. The passage of shepherds through the ravine, accompanied by their herds and bardino dogs, is still a common scene, reminding us that the essence of the place remains intact.
Tesjuate is not visited in a hurry. You walk slowly, listen and feel. It is one of those places where Fuerteventura is shown as it is: austere, deep and authentic, with a history that deserves to be told and preserved.