Work has now started on the renovation of Casa Samsó, one of the historic mansions in Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s Barrio de Los Hoteles-Pino de Oro.
The Canary Islands Government bought the property for €2.7 million in December 2025 and now plans to turn it into the new home of the Vice-Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage.
The renovation is expected to take around eight weeks, with the government hoping staff can move into the building by November.
Bringing the culture department together
The move is partly about solving a fairly familiar problem in government departments: people working in different offices and not having enough space.
There are currently around 27 employees within the department, with plans for that number to rise to roughly 30 once the move to Casa Samsó is complete.
The aim is to bring the teams together under one roof, along with the technical, management and institutional spaces needed for the department’s work.
Casa Samsó has around 725 square metres of constructed space spread over four floors, with an existing lift.
Renovation without losing the character
This isn’t going to be a complete strip-out and modernisation job.
The planned work will concentrate on practical improvements, including data infrastructure, electrical and technological systems, air conditioning and accessibility.
Importantly, the original structure and architectural details will be preserved.
Given the building’s history, that seems like the sensible approach. There’s not much point buying a historic mansion and then making it look like a particularly expensive office block.
Once the eight weeks of work are finished, there will also be a trial period to make sure the new installations are working properly before staff begin moving in.
A protected part of Santa Cruz
Casa Samsó sits within the Barrio de Los Hoteles-Pino de Oro, an area protected as a Site of Cultural Interest.
Before the government bought the property, a series of assessments were carried out covering its historical, artistic, technical, functional and urban characteristics.
These studies were intended to establish whether the building was suitable for administrative use.
The acquisition order was signed on 28 November 2025, with government documentation pointing to the existing “precariety and dispersal” of the culture and heritage teams as one of the reasons for the purchase.
Bought below the asking price
The government also points out that it didn’t pay the full original asking price.
The €2.7 million purchase price was €100,000 below the initial asking price, while the acquisition was processed through an urgent procedure.
Reports supporting the purchase came from the Government’s Legal Services, Santa Cruz’s Urban Planning Department and the Cabildo de Tenerife.
Keeping historic buildings in use
The Canary Islands Government has referred to similar arrangements elsewhere in Spain, including the Palau Marc in Barcelona and the Palacio de Altamira in Seville, where historic buildings have been adapted for use by cultural departments.
The argument is fairly straightforward. Historic buildings are generally better preserved when they continue to have a practical use rather than simply being left empty.
In this case, Casa Samsó is getting a new role while retaining its original character.
And with around 30 people eventually working there, this particular piece of Santa Cruz history won’t be sitting quietly gathering dust.