Amaro Pargo (1678-1747), un corsario canario en la Edad Moderna. Un proyecto de puesta en valor del patrimonio histórico-cultural en las Islas Canarias

Abstract

The current PhD Dissertation represents a cultural heritage management project focused on Amaro Pargo and his Hacienda in El Rosario. Our character is a notable fgure in Canary Modern Age, whose memory has not received a proper degree of attention, from our point of view. The origin of this work relates to the exhumation works carried out in the familiar crypt, in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, in November 2013. After the elaboration of both a fnal degree and a master’s dissertation as the frst steps in our investigation, the culmination of this work implies a closure to our academic journey. Our investigation is articulated from the sum of its three main contributions: an analysis about the museum ofer on the Canary Islands, especially on its house museums, followed by a critical review on the existing literature regarding our main character and the draft of a script which could be integrated in the museum. This ambition is materialized in the third and defnitive contribution, the design of a museological plan conceived to celebrate the memory of the individual and his legacy, Casa Museo Amaro Pargo (CMAP). Moreover, in terms of state of the art perspectives, we apply principles of interdisciplinary, transversality, sustainability and circularity on its structure. It comes preceded by an epistemological frame in which our proposal fnds its foundations, the museology as a scientifc discipline. Indeed, we consider fulflled the main goal of the thesis, the contribution to the knowledge and difusion of Amaro Pargo, which contributes to the enhancement of the museum scene in Tenerife. Our proposal’s singularity comes from the link we have established between the character, the hacienda and the cultural landscape in which it is framed, all mixed in a diachronic discourse, from Amaro’s own family background to the date, including tangible and intangible heritage. It provides a new and refreshed perspective on cultural heritage management in the Canary Islands, certainly in accordance with 21th Century rhetoric. It is our hope that this work can be helpful for future similar endeavours and also the frst step of a new path towards the expected outcome of every social science investigation, the social return