The businessman Juan Rosa Perdomo, father of six children, passed away this Wednesday, December 23 at the age of 88. Rosa Perdomo was born in Arrecife in 1927 and was one of the pioneers of tourism on the island, although he also dedicated himself to other sectors. His first foray into tourism occurred in 1965, when he bought the Fariones hotel from Vicente Calderón, president of Atlético de Madrid for two decades.
"I have only worked throughout my life," he said during the proclamation he gave in 2011, on the occasion of the San Ginés festivities. Although Rosa Perdomo was present at that event, it was his granddaughter, Mónica Salces, who was in charge of reading her grandfather's proclamation. In it, the businessman recalled the scarcity of the times lived during his childhood and youth on the island of Lanzarote, "in which we hardly knew what it was to go to a party, neither as children, nor as young people, nor as adults."
"We lacked almost everything, we only thought about getting up still at night, working one day yes and another also, and going to bed with the fall of the sun. There was nothing more than working to live and living to work. At 3 in the morning on the floor and to work, including Saturdays and Sundays, and at 9 at night, to bed."
When remembering his humble origins, the businessman made a special mention of his father, Anselmo Rosa. "He instilled in me that you have to be foresighted and save for tomorrow. And that what belongs to others, belongs to others," he said, to explain that he managed to overcome economic difficulties "based on work."