Espacio Cultural El Tanque (The Tank Cultural Space), Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The Tank Cultural Space is a captivating testament to the city’s creative renaissance. Originally built in the 1950s as an industrial storage tank for a nearby fuel-oil refinery, this cylindrical structure-roughly 50 m in diameter and nearly 20 m tall-was saved from demolition in the late 1990s. Led by architect Fernando Menis and the Friends of The Tank Association, it was transformed into a cultural space.

Inside, the Tank offers a vast sanctuary ideal for avant-garde art, installations, cinema, theatre, immersive soundscapes, and electronic music festivals like the renowned Keroxen. It features exposed steel pillars, recycled skylights made from old barrels, and a grand swing-door entrance crafted from industrial scrap. The space’s remarkable 17-second acoustic reverberation makes it perfect for sonic experiments and performances.

Since gaining protected status as an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2014, the Tank has continued evolving. In 2022, the surroundings were reimagined as a lush public garden featuring over 700 native and banana trees, alongside sculptural lighting crafted from recycled oxygen bottles and sustainable irrigation systems.