Photos: Sergio Betancort
This Friday the San Ginés festivities kicked off with the reading of the proclamation by the former mayor of Arrecife, Elisabeth de León. The plenary hall was completely full. Before the town crier took the floor, both the mayor Eva de Anta and the Councilor for Festivities, David Duarte, invited everyone to enjoy each of the programmed events where "traditions will be very present as well as some new additions."
Next, Elezabeth de León began by recalling the precarious health situation experienced by the inhabitants of Lanzarote in the second half of the 16th century. She explained how "small health centers were slowly built in the old capital of the island, Teguise, where the population was cared for with scarce human resources." "These were times when famine and precariousness raged against the weakest, exposed to countless diseases such as plague, smallpox, typhus or yellow fever, among others." De León recalled that it was in 1951 when the island hospital was inaugurated and "from then until today progress has been made gradually." She had words of recognition for Dr. José Molina Orosa, an illustrious doctor and "admirable person who did so much good for the islanders."
In the most personal part of her experiences, Elizabeth de León described from her arrival into the world at her maternal grandparents' house at 8 La Palma Street, located in the El Lomo neighborhood that, together with La Puntilla and Naos, bordered El Charco de San Ginés. "In its dusty alleys she played rope or hopscotch, and even in some of the neighbors' doors there were carbon irons to iron the starched petticoats that were put on girls in those years." She also recalled the iron stove that was in the house with a chimney that reached the ceiling, with an oven where some neighbors went to toast bread, turning it into sponge cake, especially for some festive celebrations such as San Ginés, a baptism or when the sailors arrived from the coast for the Carmen festivities. "I remember the sound emitted by the sirens of the canning factories at the end of the working day, canning factories where tuna and sardines were canned that tasted and smelled of glory," The former mayor also mentioned "the old Las Nieves factory dedicated to salting dried fish, a few meters away some boats were anchored for repair, such as those owned by her father "El Armando" and a barge called "La Maricela".
Elizabeth is the fifth of seven siblings. She completed her studies at the Generalísimo Franco school, today La Destila, studied high school at the Agustín Espinosa and Blas Cabrera Felipe institutes, studied Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of La Laguna and has been working as a doctor at the Titerroy Health Center for 27 years, where she continues to practice. A pioneer in many things, she combined this work as a doctor with being the first female mayor of the island's capital, holding the mayoralty of Arrecife between October 1997 and May 1999, in addition to being the first woman to belong to the Board of Ports of Las Palmas.
Elizabeth moved with her family to the La Destila neighborhood at the age of eight, where there were still some remains of the salt flats that were very close to the old cemetery. Every Sunday after leaving mass until lunchtime she would go to play with her friends. With great humor she brought to the memory of many of those present the figure of two characters who are part of the small history of Arrecife, such as Paco and Acuña. "With their ice cream carts they stood at the entrance and exit of the cinema and, competing with each other, launched the slogan, children don't buy ice cream from Paco because it tastes like tobacco" or "don't buy ice cream from Acuña because it tastes like hoof", she related with humor. A moment where the public was heard to chuckle. There were many experiences that the town crier shared on a very special day for her, insisting that at no time was it her intention to make a nostalgic proclamation, "since any past time was neither better nor worse, society evolves and in each time the situations and experiences that are recorded in our memory are different." With a "Long live our San Ginés festivities", she ended her proclamation, the public rewarded her with a warm and resounding applause.
Next, the mayor Eva de Anta and the Councilor for Festivities David Duarte presented her with a sculpture of the Puente de Las Bolas, a symbol of the city of Arrecife.
Once the protocol photo session was finished, they joined the public in the patio of the old Recova where all attendees were offered caramelized almonds, nougat, cotton candy, ice cream, roasted pota, wine, soft drinks and water, all accompanied by the background music of the timple player Alexis Lemes in duet with the guitarist Adrián Niz.