Cofete, southern Fuerteventura's remote and mysterious territory, has long been the scene of numerous stories and myths. One of the most persistent myths is the fence surrounding the extensive part of the Cofete Chalet and those supposedly hidden dark secrets. However, the well documented fence reveals the true story behind the fence. It demonstrates that many of these stories are false and misrepresented.
The fence has been the subject of numerous conspiracies and legends. It was claimed that this fence, supposedly preventing people from accessing the Jandía Peninsula, was built to hide covert activities in the Cofete Chalet. However, historical evidence denies these statements and reveals a much simpler truth.
The construction of the Cofete Chalet is a crucial starting point for understanding the chronology of the fence. It was often claimed that the villa was built during World War II, which fed the theory that the fence was used to hide suspicious activities during the war. However, the truth is that the chalet began to build years after World War II, which completely discredits this theory.
Instead of hiding war secrets, the fence had a much more mundane purpose. To understand it, we must go back to the history of Fuerteventura. Since the fifteenth century, there was a wall known as "The Wall of Jandía", a pre-Hispanic construction that extended from a force (the wall) to the cassock (Matas Blancas), separating the kingdoms of Maxorata and Jandía. This wall had a length of approximately 6 kilometres and remained for centuries.
However, over time, much of this wall had deteriorated and disappeared. In documents of the time, such as Gustav Winter's letters to various people, the existence of very limited vestiges of the old wall is mentioned. Most of these relics had heights ranging between 20 cm and 1 meter. In addition, in an era of intensive use of the limestone stone of Fuerteventura, part of the wall was broken to obtain construction materials.
In 1946, Gustav Winter contemplated possibly rebuilding the old wall using lime and stones. However, this idea did not prosper, partly due to the previous experience of building similar walls in Jandía to prevent cattle from accessing forest and cultural areas. These walls were vulnerable in drought times and were often destroyed by cattle.
The real reason behind the construction of the fence in 1949 was the signing of the mediaría agreement with the medians of the farm. Under this agreement, it was decided to build the fence, which consisted of wooden posts and barbed wire. This decision had a clear and logical purpose:
- First, it was sought to control the exit and sale of cattle and agricultural products outside the farm since the farm owner shared 50% of the production with the medians.
- Secondly, they wanted to prevent outside animals from entering the farm and eating the pastures, which are always scarce in Jandía.
Finally, it was sought to protect the sheep of the Karakul breed, acquired in 1948, which were in the Jable area, and they had to maintain their genetic purity. The breeding of these sheep aimed to obtain precious skin to manufacture astracán coats.
The construction of the fence was a pragmatic and necessary act in the context of the farm and livestock exploitation of the farm. It had no relationship with dark secrets or covert activities in the Coftete Chalet. It was a measure taken to manage production and protect the economic interests of the owners and medians of the farm.
As the tourism industry began to develop in the area and agricultural and livestock activity decreased due to droughts and low yields, the fence lost relevance and finally disappeared (1962). The Villa of Cofete estate has remained witness to a past era and a story that, although full of mystery, can be understood more clearly through evidence.
Source: Freepik image
