La Caleta is a coastal village in Adeje and in the past was the port for the town of Adeje, with boats docking in La Emramada, as documents from the 18th century detail the construction of caves along the coast line for storing cargo, according to testimonies from residents, as detailed in the book History of Adeje, by local historian Nelson Díaz Frias.
There is a document in the official town archives referring to plots of land belonging to the Ponte family, and a plan where you can see the Nuestra Señora hermitage (the hermitage at the front end of the Plaza de San Sebastian in La Caleta). The archives reference various persons who probably gave their names to beaches and bays in the zone, including one Diego Hernández, and another reference to “la caleta de Juan Vernal”, ‘caleta’ being the Spanish word for cove.
The local population of La Caleta would have been, in the majority, fishermen and women with some also working the local fields right up to the end of the 20th century. They would have lived in caves and shacks made up of whatever local materials they could find. The oldest part of the village is the zone called Las Terrazas, which belonged to the Fyffes Company, years later the properties being sold to the families living there. There was a small fishing boat dock and a packing building from where fruit was also sent to England.
There are many fisherwomen whose names are well known and respected in the area, including Doña Indalecia, Doña Lola, Doña Frasca, Doña Eleuteria, Doña María, Doña Concepción and Doña Tina. Families from Adeje town would also come to La Caleta during the summer months to stay, and for many decades there was no electricity, with candlelight and oil lamps.
The local La Caleta fiesta pays homage to ‘la Virgen del Carmen’, held during the first week of August since the middle of the 20th century, and the first president of the fiestas was Don Julio Bello. Every year his wife, Doña María Benita García García, would sing the following song in her honour
“Viva la Virgen nuestra patrona
Que en La Caleta tiene su altar
Y reina siempre, triunfante Cristo
En La Caleta noble e ideal
Recibe madre nuestro cariño
A ti queremos solo servir
Desde este día los caleteros
Nos ofrecemos del todo a ti
¡Viva la Virgen del Carmen!”
