Teguise and Brussels pay tribute to Leandro Perdomo, the emigrant miner who founded 'Volcán'

The Cervantes Institute of Brussels hosted this Monday the event 'Leandro Perdomo: Bohemia, mines and a newspaper of emigrants in Belgium', a tribute to one of the most relevant writers of the second half of the 20th century in the Canary Islands, born in La Villa de Teguise. This cultural activity has been carried out within the framework of the celebration 'Teguise. 600 years of History', from which the City Council is promoting culture with various initiatives. Through one of them, it is about "highlighting the role played by illustrious figures who saw the light in the municipality and put their grain of sand so that today the name of Teguise is known far beyond its borders".

This is the case of the tribute to Leandro Perdomo in Belgium, as well as other informative projects that are intended to be developed to publicize the figure of Clavijo y Fajardo, in Germany; or that of Dr. Alfonso Spínola, in Uruguay. The latter was not only recognized for his profession, but also for his humanitarian work.

The Mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, the specialist in the life and work of the honoree, Fernando Gómez Aguilera, the official chronicler of Teguise, Francisco Hernández, the person in charge of the Municipal Archive of Teguise, Félix Delgado, and the director of the Cervantes Institute of Brussels, Felipe Santos, have participated in the tribute to Leandro Perdomo. Betancort has highlighted Perdomo's position as a defender of the Spanish language and the rights of emigrants, and has expressed his gratitude because a "forum of such importance for the Spanish language has made possible a tribute to the writer from La Villa de Teguise".

A newspaper made by miners

Belgium received Leandro Perdomo in 1957, who arrived at the age of 36 to work as a miner, in one of the many coal mines in the city of Charleroi. After several jobs, in 1963 he founded and assumed the direction of the newspaper Volcán.

'Volcán, informative newspaper of culture and sports' is the work of miners and emigrant workers, but above all of its founder and director, who trusted in letters and culture as a transforming and emancipating force, both individually and collectively, as was revealed during the tribute.

In this sense, Gómez Aguilera pointed out during the act of recognition of the figure of Leandro Perdomo that "Volcán constitutes a significant historical-sociological document of undoubted value to study the Spanish emigration in Belgium of the last century. A workers' magazine, a class newspaper in which cultural and philanthropic ideals stand out".

"An act of poetic justice"

For his part, the director of the Cervantes Institute of Brussels, Felipe Santos, clarified that the tribute to Perdomo is an "act of poetic justice" and has expressed interest in continuing to carry out activities related to the writer, since he has stated that he has "been surprised by the scope that the newspaper Volcán had had in the capital of Belgium".

The tribute consisted of a conference, an exhibition and the screening of a video. As a final touch, the mayor and the chronicler of La Villa presented the director of the Cervantes Institute with a portrait of Perdomo and several copies of his works, which have become part of the Gerardo Diego Library that houses the Institution.

According to the Teguise City Council, the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, will be in Brussels this Thursday, and among the scheduled activities, he has scheduled a visit to the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute to see the exhibition of the tribute to Perdomo, which has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the Cervantes Institute and the César Manrique Foundation.