The residents of the town of Nazaret gathered on Thursday afternoon at the Ubigue Sociocultural Center to support neighbor Carmen Guzmán Cerrillo, town crier of the festivities.
During her proclamation, in which she related some of her experiences in the town, Carmen managed to make the neighbors and friends gathered there have a good time, easily eliciting more than one laugh. In addition, the town crier invited all attendees to participate in each of the events programmed by the festival committee.
Carmen Guzmán is the daughter of parents from Malaga who emigrated to France seeking to improve the family economy. There, Carmen was born and resided until she was 15 years old, when they returned to Malaga again, where she remained for approximately three years, until one day a young man from Lanzarote, Tony Ortega, arrived in the Andalusian city, with whom she fell in love.
Thus, Carmen left Malaga for love, heading to Lanzarote to reside in the town of Nazaret, which in those years lacked the minimum services. In addition, the town crier had to learn the Canarian lexicon, so that the rope would become soga, the bucket in balde and the potato in papa.
A woman committed to the neighborhood
Over time, Carmen became integrated as one more in the town of Nazaret and, at present, she considers herself one more, working side by side and committed to everything that affects the neighborhood. In this way, she participates in the festivities by doing playbacks, theater, sewing curtains for the sociocultural center, costumes for adults and children for theatrical performances, always willing to lend a hand wherever you need it.
In 2001, Carmen's life was cut short by an accident suffered by her husband, Tony Ortega, although as she related this Thursday, she was never alone, because the neighborhood turned to her, putting themselves at her service in everything they needed. A gesture that both she and her husband will never forget.
Another of the details that captivated Carmen upon her arrival in the town of Nazaret occurred when they began to build their house, seeing how Tony's neighbors and friends gathered on weekends and together they carried out the tasks, speeding up the construction with the consequent economic savings in labor.
With a cheer to Our Lady of Nazaret, Carmen Guzmán ended her proclamation, thus beginning the town's festivities. For its part, the festival committee presented the town crier with a bouquet of flowers.