The Ten-Bel project: Tourism on a grand scale.

Ten-Bel was built in the Canary Islands in the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, it was one of the largest holiday resorts in Spain and a pioneering site of touristic development in the south of Tenerife. More than five thousand tourist beds were integrated into a modern architecture with large green areas, where the guests were offered a wide range of leisure activities and international shows. In the 1980s, however, the lack of investment led to a loss of prestige, and it became increasingly difficult for Ten-Bel to compete with the growing number of new offers in the nearby tourist areas. At the beginning of the new millennium, after several unsuccessful attempts to renovate the complex and make it more profitable, the resort was split up and sold off in parts. This confusing division occurred without first finding a solution for the municipal utilities, which were centralized for each tourist complex and did not offer an individual option for the new owners. In addition, there was no agreement on the maintenance of the common areas and parks. These were left in a state of dilapidation. Ten-Bel is an exceptional case, not only because of its outstanding architecture, commercial success or innovative management, but also because it illustrates the problems that arise when a tourist complex is converted to residential use. It is a paradigmatic example to examine the beginnings of touristification in Spain and the contradictions of this new utopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]