The residents of Tahíche are celebrating the festivities in honor of Santiago Apóstol and Santa Ana 2024. The celebration kicked off last Friday night with the reading of the proclamation, by the resident Martín Domínguez Fontes, in the social hall of the Santiago El Mayor Neighborhood Association.
Martín is a very beloved resident in the town and during his proclamation he took a tour of some episodes of his life. At the age of six, he began his primary school studies, which were often interrupted in order to take care of the animals.
In his speech, he nostalgically recalled the glass of powdered milk that they gave him at school, taken from a large cauldron for all the students, and how the book Manuscrito, passed from one brother to another, but despite everything it was a very fun childhood, playing with friends the traditional games of the time such as bowling, spinning top, rag ball or hide-and-seek.
Something very frequent were the organized guerrillas between the neighborhoods of Calle Nueva and El Morro or taking getaways to get to the volcano and take some fruit secretly from its owners.
Martín also remembered those large families in the town, where each one had a minimum of eight children and some even had more than twelve children. Something that today is totally unthinkable. The neighbor also stressed that, despite so many children, the mothers managed to work like lionesses and move forward.
He also told very funny anecdotes related to his birth. When he went to the cinema for the first time to see a Western movie and did not stop crying when he saw how the horses died from gunshots while his brother consoled him by telling him that they would then be resurrected. At only 11 years old, he began working in the Lloret y Llinares cannery factory to help the family economy.
A very interesting part, and unknown to many residents, was the commitment acquired by two residents of the town who gave a bank the deeds of their houses as collateral to buy the land and thus be able to build the premises where the Neighborhood Association is now installed.
Luckily everything went well, with the commitment of the entire town they decided to put a fee of 1,500 pesetas to work every weekend and those who could not had to deposit the amount at the address, even talking to César Manrique, who was in charge of helping them with the plans.
Martín told how those parties began, where everyone participated enjoying the families and neighbors with the festivals, the soccer matches, the processions and the special meals.
Martín was also a prominent athlete, a very good friend of José Manuel Ojeda in activities such as running and cycling, winning important awards, champion of the Canary Islands, bronze medal in the European Championships and bronze medal in Orense, Galicia.
Martín did not want to finish his proclamation without first leaving a message to all the young people, that it is not about having but about living every moment of life healthy and happy, all this and much more the proclaimer shared with all those present.
Martín Domínguez was very supported by his family, friends and neighbors, and with a "long live Santiago Apóstol and Santa Ana!", he finished his proclamation.
Olivia Duque, mayor of the Teguise City Council, presented him with a commemorative plaque and Doris Duque as representative of the Festival Committee presented him with a gift.