Why the tape measure rules on Canarian building sites

Many Central Europeans travelling to the Canary Islands soon realise that things take their own course here. Neither worse nor better, but simply different. Where this difference is most evident is in taking measurements. In Germany, people use a folding rule; in the Canary Islands, on the other hand, a flexible tape measure. Two tools, and behind them, two mindsets.

Over here, the folding rule is practically a symbol of precision. It folds out, locks into place, stays nice and straight and can be positioned neatly. Measuring follows a clear procedure: you place one end against the surface, fold it out and read the measurement. Only when the distance is longer than the tool itself do you mark a point and continue measuring from there. Stable, reliable, accurate to the millimetre.

In the Canary Islands, on the other hand, the tape measure reigns supreme. It bends, rolls up, sags and, every now and then, has a mind of its own. It is used for everything that needs measuring, be it room heights, wall lengths, window openings or balconies. And this is done with such matter-of-factness that it causes more than a few German tradespeople to furrow their brows.

Canary Islands: A tape measure held above head height is as unreliable as a piece of string

Whenever the tape has to go above head height, a little drama unfolds every time. It kinks, sags and rolls itself halfway back up, yet the measuring merrily continues regardless. For anything longer than two metres, it wouldn’t occur to anyone to mark the tape and continue measuring from there. Instead, you simply need a longer tape measure. The fact that it sags reliably during overhead measurements is just part and parcel of the job. In the end, you’re left with a figure that’s likely to be roughly correct, and that’s enough.

This laid-back attitude is also evident in the buildings themselves. Two walls that run parallel on the plan often taper slightly in reality. It’s nothing dramatic, but just enough that the tiler only notices it when he’s on the very last row, whereupon he mutters a quiet curse under his breath and tries to make up for it somehow.

It’s a kind of geometric generosity that nobody here really minds. You make do, nudge things about a bit, twist them slightly, and in the end it all works out.

Measuring on the Canary Islands way: different doesn’t necessarily mean worse

Despite all the improvisation, the work produced in the Canary Islands is reliable, solid and astonishingly durable. Doors, windows, balconies – much of it is skilfully crafted and often impressively well made. Just in a different way.

Perhaps that’s the real lesson: not everything has to be measured down to the millimetre to serve its purpose in the end. The clocks tick differently here, and yet they run with astonishing reliability.