Tías and Lanzarote have fully embraced this Saturday's posthumous tribute that the Tías City Council, the Lanzarote Council, and the Government of the Canary Islands have paid to the Portuguese writer, José Saramago, adopted son of Tías and Lanzarote, and Gold Medal of the Canary Islands, coinciding with the third anniversary of his death at his home in the town of Tías, in Lanzarote.
Shortly after 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 15, the mayor of Tías, Pancho Hernández, accompanied by the island director of the General State Administration in Lanzarote, Juan Prats Melero; the president of the Lanzarote Council, Pedro San Ginés, the Minister of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Inés Rojas de León, and the writer's widow and president of the Saramago Foundation, Pilar del Río, unveiled a huge 5.5-meter-high steel sculpture symbolizing an olive tree. Two young neighbors from Tías, Juan Daniel and Patricia, participated with the authorities and made a floral offering during the event.
The Tías Municipal Music Band was in charge of providing the musical note to the institutional act, which began with the musical interpretation of the anthem of the Canary Islands.
During the event, in addition to the mayor, the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, Pilar del Río and Inés Rojas de León, who closed the round of speeches, also spoke.
Pancho Hernández, whose municipal corporation unanimously approved by all the political forces present the dedication and baptized the roundabout next to which the Nobel Literature Prize winner spent the last years of his life in Tías and Lanzarote, with the name of Glorieta José Saramago. The sculpture, unveiled this Saturday, and belonging to the public heritage of the municipality of Tías, was designed by Ester Fernández and worked on by the sculptor José Perdomo. Its financing was made possible by an agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands, the Lanzarote Council and the Tías City Council.
The mayor, Pancho Hernández, highlighted during his speech that "Tías, 20 years after the arrival of one of its great neighbors, will remember with this roundabout and this sculpture José Saramago, a man who was among us by his own decision until the last days of his life. Among those of us who were born here and José Saramago, adopted son of Tías and Lanzarote, and Gold Medal of the Canary Islands, we will be more united from today under the shadow of this great olive tree, a symbol of union and prosperity."
Pancho Hernández, who was accompanied by several members of the Municipal Corporation, said in his speech, "We have not failed José Saramago in Lanzarote because today's act is a reflection of the pride that so many of us feel. Yes, we are from Lanzarote, an unparalleled, indestructible island, but also, and we will hear it more and more, we are from the Island of Saramago. That is why we consummate this relationship here, and we do so with the steel olive tree that is an expression of recognition and gratitude, with neighbors, friends, family and authorities, in front of his house."
