The City Council of Arrecife presented this Wednesday in the halls of the House of Youth, in Titerroy, the book about the 50 years of sporting successes and life in the neighborhood of the San José Obrero handball club. Work by Lorenzo Lemaur, former coach and one of the architects of the existence of this sports club.
In the 312 pages of this documented book is reflected the half century of expansion of Titerroy as a neighborhood where San José Obrero has been a nexus of social cohesion for many of its residents.
Through the Department of Sports, the Arrecife City Council has published this book coinciding with the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of CB San José Obrero, and which was presented last night to society, coinciding with the start of the patron saint festivities of Titerroy, and the commemoration of World Book Day.
The presentation was attended by neighbors of the neighborhood, former players and directors of the club, as well as Juan Oliver, former women's coach of the Spanish National Handball Team and Blas Parrilla, vice-president of the RFEBM and president of the Canarian Handball Federation, who extolled the importance of San José Obrero for handball in the Canary Islands and Spain, achieving among its great sporting triumphs, being the first women's team outside the major Spanish provinces, proclaiming themselves Champions of Spain in 1985, ten years after its foundation.
In his speech, mayor Yonathan de León, recalled his connection with Titerroy where he started, in 2010, as an entrepreneur, which allowed him to get to know his neighbors closely, many of them, linked in these five decades with San José Obrero. The first alderman highlighted the sporting life of this club, which since its origins has been very close to the neighborhood of Titerroy, and now with the publication of this book, the City Council has wished to pay tribute and homage to all people, to all athletes, female and male players, coaches, and directors who have given their all in these five decades of glorious sporting successes for this historic handball club from Arrecife.
Yonathan de León, as reflected in his dedication inserted in the first pages, remarks that “the text and images of this book, created with the heart of great connoisseurs of the vicissitudes, efforts, and triumphs that San José Obrero has shared with its great fan base, shows the close relationship of many people who have been architects for the consolidation of this great club, and reaching up to these times”.
The mayor highlights that “in the more than 300 pages, testimonies of people who lived the beginnings of the entity are collected, as well as other key figures in its trajectory. As mayor of Arrecife, I highlight the work of the nine presidents who have led the club since its foundation: Manuel Fuentes Moreno (1975), Lorenzo Lemaur Santana (1975-1985 and 1991-1994), Agapito de León (1985-1991), Jorge Cabrera (1994-1995), Marcial Brito (1998-2002), David Robayna (2002-2005), Israel González (2005-2006), Juan Carlos Toledo (2006-2021) and Yomaique Martín (2021-2025). And this important celebration and commemoration of half a century of life of San José Obrero has also arrived with another of the great milestones achieved in this term with the recent reopening of the Argana Pavilion, the one with the largest capacity on the island of Lanzarote”.
The mayor advanced part of the new sports investments that will be executed in these coming months in the Titerroy neighborhood, several of them to modernize the sports facilities with new equipment, and concluded his intervention stating: “Here you have in your hands this compilation book of half a century of San José Obrero. I am sure that Arrecife will see in these coming years great sports moments and many more of happiness and pride with the future new triumphs that San José Obrero will continue to reap. Turning Arrecife into the capital of sports and events is a reality that we feel every day. Because sport changes and transforms lives for good. And athletes and clubs like you, make it possible”.
For her part, the Councilor for Sports and spokesperson for the PP, Eli Merino, who detailed at the event the efforts and contacts with Lorenzo Lemaur for the edition of this commemorative book, highlighted "the importance of leaving compiled and published for future generations these fifty years of intense and glorious sporting life of San José Obrero", a club she knew from her youth when she was a resident of the Titerroy neighborhood, although she opted for the practice of athletics instead of handball. Eli Merino is proud that her daughters play handball, and defended that sports are essential for the advancement of our society.
The councilwoman recounted a personal anecdote at this event "by recalling that her grandfather, originally from Fuerteventura, came to Lanzarote to work in the construction of the homes in the Titerroy neighborhood and to speak of this neighborhood is to review the life of San José Obrero as a club that helped with cohesion and social and cultural life, in addition to sports during its first decades". Eli Merino pointed out that Lorenzo Lemaur, the author of this great compilation work of half a century of life and successes of San José Obrero, already has much documentation advanced for a second part of a future book.
By initiative of the Department of Sports, the attendees to the event received as a gift a copy of this book, as the celebration of Book Day and the start of the neighborhood festivities coincided. In the book many photographs are inserted, and references to many of the people who attended this presentation last night.