Tindaya project, Fuerteventura

To the ancient aborigines, it was known as Sacred Mountain, a name that is still used today - a place to worship the spirits that guided them. On top of the mountain, they carved symbols to ward off evil spirits which can still be seen today.

Now, the island has been split by plans to bore into the heart of this ancient mountain and carve out a massive cube - in the name of art.

The idea is the brainchild of the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida.

For centuries the Mount Tindaya has towered over the island. The ancient Guanches of the island regarded it as sacred.

At the top of the mountain, they made carvings or "podomorphs" - silhouettes of human feet which can still be seen today. These ancient carvings are unique to Fuerteventura. Some are thought to have been made ward off evil spirits from Mount Teide on Tenerife, others to fall in line with the winter solstice.

Chillida's dream is to hollow out a huge cube inside the mountain the height of a 10 storey building. Shafts would then be bored to transmit sunlight and moonlight into the heart of the chamber. His theory - to create a "utopian" interior space within a mountain.

After years of searching for the perfect site for his sculptural vision, Eduardo Chillida, one of Spain's foremost sculptors, discovered Mount Tindaya and was instantly drawn to it because the Neolithic footprints at the centre of the controversy resembled his signature.

Chillida then reputedly exclaimed: ''My sculpture wants the mountain, it is now time to see whether the mountain wants my sculpture.''

Engineers Arup were appointed to lead the technical design of Chillida’s 45m x 50m x 65m cave inside Mount Tindaya - one of the largest underground caverns ever constructed and the only one of its size with a flat roof.

This year the Chillida museum announced that studies confirmed that it is possible to empty a part of Mount Majorera in order to create the approximately 50m³ designed by the sculptor.

They said the mountain is capable of supporting an interior flat roof and making the cavern would only mean removing 0.3% of its volume.

The scultor died in 2002 leaving his son to carry on the work. So far, he has been given about 1.5 million Euros of money towards the project.

More than 1000 metres of samples have been removed to see whether the mountain can support the cavern. Conservationists oppose the plan saying it would alter the structure of a sacred monument and that noise and pollution from the excavation would damage vegetation and protected wildlife. Critics say the project is a smokescreen to plunder the rich mountain rock.Those for the cavern say it is an important work of art which will bring tourists to Fuerteventura.

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