Castro and Magán rise from the ashes of the fire of 2023

The winery Castro and Magán, located in Tags and affected by the fire of The Palm of 2023, recovers its activity after the reconstruction works of its facilities, financed with aid from 791.819,10 euros from the Rural Development Program (PDR) managed by the Government of the Canary Islands through the Department of Agriculture, Cattle raising, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty. In addition to infrastructure work, This subsidy has allowed the acquisition of new equipment.

The area counselor, Narvay Quintero, He went to the facilities accompanied by the president of the Cabildo of La Palma, Sergio Rodriguez, the Minister of Agriculture, Cattle raising, Fishing, Animal Welfare and Food Sovereignty of the Island Council, Alberto Paz, the mayor of Tijarafe, Yaiza Caceres, the sports councilor and deputy mayor of the municipality, Samuel Perez, and the owners of the winery, Constantino Ballesteros y Nancy Castro. During the visit, Quintero pointed out the importance “of institutional support in cases as destructive as fires.”, "that require firm support that allows Canarian companies to resume their activity as soon as possible.".

In this sense, recalled that this support is complemented with a direct subsidy from 218.000 euros to the Cabildo of La Palma in December 2024 to support the maintenance of staff in a context of lack of grapes for winemaking, which the wineries of the northwest region of La Palma were able to welcome, in addition to aid to compensate for the effects of drought on different crops, among which was the vine, implemented by the Canarian Executive.

On the other hand, Sergio Rodríguez valued “the bravery of the families who continue working in the fields of the Island, that heroic agriculture that generates economy and landscape. The administrations have been present from minute zero accompanying the people of this region that suffered the fire of 2023, “This winery is an example of the improvement work of this important group”.

In this regard, the owner of the company, Constantino Ballesteros explained that they are “very excited because almost one hundred percent of the activity can now be resumed.”, and this represents a huge advance not only for this company, but for the region and its winegrowers.”. In this sense, He highlighted that they intend to take advantage of this momentum to develop different wine tourism experiences that serve to enhance the culture and wine-growing reach of the area..

Besides, He also wanted to remember that “the support of the Government, The Cabildo and the City Council were not limited only to the reconstruction of the winery, but also to recover the affected vineyard area and restore several plots”. Finally, He indicated that “although we have gone through years of drought, This exercise we have collected 115.000 kilos of grapes, a significant improvement over previous years and indicating the beginning of a clear recovery from the disaster, where we picked up 140.000 kilos with the same winegrowers”.

This line of action of the Rural Development Program (PDR), financed through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (FEADER), of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and food, It was called after the declaration of a catastrophe situation, that the Governing Council agreed in February 2024 at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Cattle raising, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty. Apart from wine-growing lands, the summer fire 2023 in La Palma caused damage to agricultural infrastructure and crops such as citrus, avocados, almond trees, vegetables for self-consumption, temperate fruit trees and vineyards in the municipalities of Puntagorda, Tijarafe and Los Llanos de Aridane.

Before the fire, The warehouse had a storage capacity of 162.550 liters of wine and cider with stainless steel tanks, oak barrels and fiberglass tanks. Besides, had a bottling line in operation with state-of-the-art filters, rinser, capping and labeling line, as well as all the machinery necessary for the harvest, as a crusher, press or cooling system. On average, production reached 70.000 bottles sold annually. After the accident, there was no possibility of recovering or rescuing anything.

The actions carried out have consisted mainly of the demolition of the structure, which was almost entirely affected, as well as foundation work, facades and roofs, in addition to the acquisition of machinery necessary for production and the usual functions of the business.

In total, The area affected by the works and rehabilitation was 233 useful square meters and 267 square meters built, extension that includes a two-story building, two parallel caves where the winery production takes place and an excavated area below ground level used as a warehouse. The breakdown of the total investment includes works that included both the demolition of the affected façade and the structural work. (pillars, beams, steel straps and covers, sheet metal and concrete), as well as foundations, carpentry or coatings. The execution budget also includes municipal license expenses, signaling, waste management or quality controls, safety and health.

Besides, Through this line of support, the acquisition of machinery for wine production was also financed., which includes an automatic ceramic tangential filter, a labeler, a corking bottling plant, a forklift, an air compressor, an electric stacker or a water heater, as well as 46 oak barrels or 16 stainless steel tanks, among other eligible expenses.

Castro Winery & Private: wine and cider production

This winery, known by the Tendal Wines, began his journey in 1997 with the aim of renewing and exploiting the wine potential of Tijarafe and Puntagorda. Located in caves excavated in the Bellido mountain, The then small family winery joined the newly created Designation of Origin of La Palma wines. Almost three decades later, The company has established itself as a regional and island benchmark and has contributed to the development of the wine culture of the area and the generational change within the sector..

Among its wine offering are organic productions and others aged under the sea and it has more than four hectares of its own land and more than 40 producers who sell their harvest to the company. Besides, has been betting on cider production for a decade, becoming recognized with the distinction of Best Canary Cider from the Official Canary Agrocanarias Cider Contest, contest organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Cattle raising, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty through the Canary Islands Institute of Agri-Food Quality (ICCA), for its natural sparkling Mirla Sidrera, made using the traditional method of second fermentation in the bottle under constant temperature conditions and no light present in caves.

This production has also been recognized at the International Gala Cider Show (to SIS), held in Asturias in September 2024, where he won a gold medal.