The stately Villa de Teguise is already showing off its best to celebrate the festivities in honor of its patron saint Nuestra Señora del Carmen. The first of the events took place this Friday with the reading of the proclamation by the neighbor, Luis de León Armas, a man very loved not only in Teguise but throughout Lanzarote. Family, friends and neighbors completely filled the capacity of the Santo Domingo convent to listen to his words.
Luis narrated his experiences with great ease and ease, starting from his childhood. He recalled that he was born in the Majuelo neighborhood, with its dusty streets where he was very happy playing with his four sisters around his house at hide-and-seek, bowling, weaving and in the winters, jumping in the puddles filling himself with mud up to his knees. Other adventures that he shared with his friends consisted of going down the Risco de Famara, investigating the lime kilns located in the Montañeta, from where lime was extracted to then whitewash the houses of Lanzarote. Luis also remembered the games around the hermitage of San Rafael, today declared an Asset of Cultural Interest.
The town crier explained how he collaborated with his parents, José Luis and Fe, in the work of the field planting sweet potatoes or collecting the onion harvest or taking care of the goats and chickens, something very common in those times, or how to help the neighbors when it was necessary to put a roof on the house or help his father who ran the theater, with the great cultural tradition that has always existed in the town.
A very endearing and emotional part for the town crier was when he remembered that the person who taught him and his sisters to read and write was his mother, who not only dedicated herself to the care of the family but also took time for school tasks. His first teacher was Don Antonio Carrión at the Santo Domingo school, moving to the Mareta school with Doña Carmen, returning again to Santo Domingo where he finished Basic General Education. One of the anecdotes that marked him was when at school they gave him cold milk framed in the childhood feeding campaigns and that was served in individual containers that caught the attention of the children because the milk they consumed at home came from the udder of the goat milked by "Seño" Félix.
On such a special night, Luis de León was very mindful of his companions from the generation of 63 with whom he has very good relations with whom he meets once a year to share experiences and a good meal. Another of the town crier's anecdotes was related to the military service, when the dreaded moment that he had to serve the Fatherland was approaching, because at that time it was an obligation, he decided to leave his studies and what would be his surprise, when they called him but to inform him that he had been freed due to "excess quota", a real miracle.
Luis de León has always felt a great attraction for electronics, even managing a recording studio where some popular music groups such as Acatife, El Pavón, Guamaray, El Golpito, Salineros de la Hoya or the Malpaís de La Corona folklore group, among others, have recorded. Currently his presence is highly requested in many of the shows that take place in Lanzarote, also making the leap to the islands of La Graciosa and Fuerteventura. These and many more experiences and anecdotes were the protagonists of a proclamation that pleased all those present and that they rewarded with a warm and prolonged applause.
At the end, the mayor of the Teguise City Council, Oswaldo Betancort, presented him with the parchment that accredits him as the official town crier and the Councilor for Culture and Festivities, Nori Machín, presented him with the sculpture of a Diablete and with the protocol photos the end point was put to this day that will go on to swell one more page of the history of Teguise.
The second part of the night was enlivened by the concert of the Tenerife singer, José Manuel Ramos. Born into a family of great singers of Canarian folklore, he was part of Los Sabandeños for 12 years, recording with them about fourteen albums with whom he has visited the entire peninsular map, as well as various American and Central European countries. He also collaborates with the Canarian group Mestisay, founder of the Parranda de Cantadores, has recorded several solo albums and is currently taking a Tribute to the great Cuban singer Antonio Machín called "Yesterday, Today and Always" to the stages. José Manuel was accompanied by his orchestra and with an impeccable staging he conquered the public who accompanied him in the refrains of some of the songs such as Toda una Vida, Dos Gardenias, Mira que eres Linda or Camarera de mi Amor among others.
