The Parque de los Lavaderos
Along with the Wine Museum, which of course we visited immediately after learning of its existence, the tiny seaside town of Sauzal boasts another attraction that makes a trip worthwhile: the park of Los Lavaderos.
Back in the olden days, this is where local washer women would come to do their laundry. (I have no idea what the actual time frame must have been, like the 19th century? That feels right, but I’m covering my bases by just calling them the “olden days”.) The park is located around a powerful natural spring, and the natural beauty of the area must have alleviated the monotony of the washing.
But we’re not in the “olden days” anymore, and there are no washer women scrubbing their husbands’ knickers. It’s the modern day, and we are no longer sexist, so now we say washer people. And actually we’re past even that! We have washing machines, which we keep in our futuristic cyborg-homes! But despite the area having lost its original purpose, the name lives on… Los Lavaderos was converted into a leisure park in 1987.
Los Lavaderos is the type of park which reveals itself as more beautiful, the longer you spend there. You’ll discover an old stone bridge, fountains, waterfalls, and numerous views out to the sea and toward the Teide volcano. It’s the perfect spot to take a book, or a date, or (I suppose) even a bucket of laundry.
