With the proclamation of the neighbor Pedro Viera Espinosa, the festivities in honor of San José Obrero, patron saint of the Titerroy neighborhood of Arrecife, began this Thursday. At 8:30 p.m. the act began, observing a minute of silence for the death of Florián Corujo Tejera. With the public standing, and once the minute was over, a prolonged ovation sounded. Immediately afterwards, the Councilor for Festivities and Police, David Duarte, went up on stage to congratulate the residents and encourage them to participate in the events programmed by the festival committee, together with the Arrecife City Council.
Duarte gave way to the mayor, Eva de Anta, who also encouraged the residents to share these days of coexistence by attending each of the programmed events and also participating in them. She also congratulated the proclaimer for accepting the invitation, highlighting the importance of this role in each festival. Next, the proclaimer, Pedro Viera Espinosa, took the stage, who with "great poise and very good oratory was breaking down his best kept treasure since until that moment not even those closest to him had had access to it.
Pedro, born in Titerroy into a humble family, was a happy child, beginning his first primary classes at the neighborhood school, Benito Mendez Tarajano, which was just a step away from his house. Once the school day was over, marked with a morning and afternoon schedule, he had free time to play with friends, in those years, in the dusty streets of Titerroy. Thus, he also acted as an explorer in some of the ruined cisterns in the area, while to play soccer he had to devise and together with friends have to remove stones and flatten a large area and, thus, be able to have a soccer field. Pedro also remembered when there was going to be a movie in the Hollywood cinema how resistant and uncomfortable the wooden seats were and, in addition, when some friends decided to go down to the Arrecife cinemas so as not to have to climb the dusty and cobbled slope where the Sports City is located today, he stayed at home.
Another part of the proclamation was occupied by the letter sent to him by his teacher, Manuel Jovani Beltrán, in which he told him about some of the episodes experienced in his stage as a student and with whom he still maintains a very fluid relationship. Pedro was very supported by his friends and neighbors, in addition to the presence of his parents Pepe and Tita, his wife and son as well as his two sisters. For the moment of farewell he chose a beautiful poem by the Nicaraguan, Gioconda Belli, entitled "One does not choose", which says: "One does not choose the country where one is born, but loves the country where one was born. One does not choose the time to come into the world, but must leave a mark of one's time. No one can evade their responsibility. No one can cover their eyes, their ears, become mute and cut off their hands. We all have a duty of love to fulfill, a story to be born, a goal to achieve. We did not choose the moment to come into the world, now we can make the world in which the seed we brought with us will be born and grow."
Before leaving the stage, the mayor, Eva de Anta, and the Councilor for Festivities, David Duarte, presented a gift for his collaboration as proclaimer of the festivities. Immediately afterwards, Joel Delgado, senator from Lanzarote and all the councilors of the Arrecife City Council, as well as the family members and festival committee, posed for the souvenir photo. Next, the students of the Lanzarote Baila dance school, directed by their teacher Miguel Medina, offered several choreographies within the ballroom dance modality.
