The 26-metre solar dish in El Medano

In 2008, a 26-metre diameter dish structure was constructed near El Medano in Tenerife. Conceived by Daniel González and built by his company, Lysply, the facility was designed to use solar power to generate electricity and hydrogen. The project was intended to be one of three matching structures for test purposes and to raise investor interest, with a first stage budget of €5 million.

The dish was covered with mirrors to focus sunlight onto a small area where the solar energy was chemically stored in methanol. It was also claimed that the facility could produce silica crystals. However, the structure was built on rural land without an urban planning license, in a protected landscape, and close to local housing. This led to complaints about methanol being stored at the site.

Work stopped in 2009 after the site was closed three times, and the structure was abandoned. The company later filed a court case against the state and the government of the Canary Islands, seeking €50 million per day for claimed losses, but the case was rejected in 2013. The structure remains on the site with no plans for its removal.

Known locally as Parabólica, the dish structure is now a well-known ruin. It serves as a landmark for photographers of abandoned spaces who visit the site to document the decaying industrial remains.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons