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From the highway that connects the villages of Masca and Las Portelas, near where 19-year-old Jay Slater disappeared, four white police cars can be found, parked in a deep ravine.
Officers from the Guardia Civil in green and black uniforms spent the day walking through the bushes, accompanied by sniffer dogs as the search continued more than a week after she disappeared.
While helicopters and drones had previously been deployed to find the teenager, now a small group of emergency workers are leading the search, with specialist canines brought in from Madrid.
Mr Slater’s last known location is believed to be a remote area near the Mirador La Cruz de Hilda cafe, an 11-hour walk from his accommodation in southern Tenerife.
Her disappearance drew the attention of friends and family, as well as an army of internet sleuths and conspiracy theorists. But on Tuesday afternoon, only a group of officers was visible, no sign of the apprentice bricklayer to give any clues.
Talk to Independent, A young waiter in a cafe in Masca expressed surprise at the media’s attention. “It happens a lot,” he said. “People walk, get lost and sometimes they are found, sometimes it takes a while.”
The conditions in the Masca Valley are brutal – the hillsides are covered in wild bushes and cacti, with the narrow roads suddenly leading to dramatic drops on either side. By retracing the last known footsteps, it’s easy to see how a person can get lost if they stray from the highway or the path they’re on.
While the beach resorts of Tenerife enjoy 26C-degree heat, the weather can change dramatically in the mountains, with wind and fog appearing in a few minutes.
An elderly Spanish couple, whose holiday home is on a dirt track hidden in the hillside, showed the police search from their back garden.
In difficult terrain, police can be seen combing through bushes and descending into ravines for clues. When asked about the search, he rejected the idea that authorities had slowed down their efforts and said they had seen helicopters, drones and dogs around for four days, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Spanish police are investigating a possible sighting of the teenager in the city of Santiago del Tiede, after grainy CCTV footage showed the young man crossing the street last Monday evening.
Less than a mile from Masca, the walk takes hours because of the steep winding roads and dangerous slopes. Around the town square, which has been decorated with colorful bunting ahead of the upcoming festival, several posters of Mr. Slater have been put up on notice boards and bus stops.
He was placed there by his father, Warren Slater, who visited the city on Sunday and Monday and made requests for information to reporters.
“I just want him to be found. I just want my son back, finally,” he said Sun.
“What else? It’s been a week now, a week of nothing. So people somewhere should know. anyone.
“It’s living hell. If you haven’t experienced it, you can’t explain it. Please, please please, if anyone knows anything, come forward and help.”
Speaking outside a small cafe, one of the local women, Anita, said: “We often have people walking around getting lost, it’s the same every summer.
“The police come for a week and search and then leave – sometimes it takes months to find a body because the mountains are so difficult to search for.
“People have said that someone has seen him here, but no one knows anything – his family comes here, but no one can show that he is here, as long as I don’t have any shops or cafes that see him.”
Others shrugged their shoulders when asked, baffled by the level of media interest in the area, while local mayor Emilio Navarro said “all resources and means” were being used to find him.
Questions continue to swirl around the nature of the disappearance of Mr. Slater, after the phone call of his friend Lucy Law at around 8.15 last Saturday morning, to say that he was lost, dehydrated and only 1 percent of the battery in the phone.
He has enjoyed a holiday with friends in Tenerife, joining other revelers at the New Rave Generation (NRG) festival at Papagayo Beach Club last Sunday in the tourist area of ​​Playa de Las Americas.
But on Monday morning, he drove 23 miles to the remote village of Masca, a mountainous area popular with hikers. He had met two British men during the festival, and accompanied them back to their Airbnb before leaving at around 7.30am.
Nothing else is known about his whereabouts, except that a witness reported that he had asked for the bus time, before walking in the opposite direction.
Among those who joined the journalists at the search site was a couple who said they liked “dark tourism”, and who had been waiting for the past few days to observe the operation. They are among several internet sleuths and conspiracy theorists who have traveled to Masca in recent days, with many posting their findings on social media platforms such as TikTok.
Responding to the wild rumours, his mother Debbie Duncan said: “I wish I hadn’t brought my son home in a body bag. I really can’t believe the British public didn’t support me in trying to find Jay. It could have happened to anyone in a day.”
