"A great fighter". That is the first memory that comes to the minds of those who knew Estrella Machín when asked about her. And this woman, promoter of the Neighborhood Association of Tinasoria, gave everything for her neighborhood until she finally passed away in March 1992. A fact that left many neighbors with "a great void".
Talking about Estrella Machín is talking about Tinasoria. Part of the history and, above all, the achievements made in this neighborhood of Arrecife, are linked to her person. And not only that, but thanks to "her charisma and her concerns", according to Ana Morales, who was Estrella's friend and partner in the association, she managed to "drag everyone along".
Estrella Machín's fight for the neighborhood of Tinasoria dates back to 1986, when a child died in a black well located in the neighborhood. It was then that Estrella decided to look for people from the neighborhood to help her fight for the problems of the neighborhood. A group that initially consisted of about seven people, but whose number increased when Estrella was appointed president of the association two years later, holding her position for three more years.
In the five years that Estrella Machín was present in the Neighborhood Association of Tinasoria, which she herself defined as the five years "most beautiful" of her life in an interview granted to La Voz de Lanzarote after leaving the association in 1991, many achievements were made in this neighborhood.
Among other things, she was the promoter of the recently completed neighborhood festivities of Tinasoria, in which this year she was recognized with a bouquet of flowers that her widower collected, although perhaps this is the least important fact. And it is that, in her feat there are many achievements. So many that, according to Ana Morales, it would be necessary to "have a good memory to remember all of them". But, yes, some, or at least the most memorable, are easy to recover.
The neighborhood movement
One of the main things that Estrella Machín, always with the help of the rest of the neighbors, achieved for the neighborhood of Tinasoria is the Los Geranios school. A fight that was also very well known, since what was a neighborhood demonstration demanding the completion of the center, after the works were paralyzed, ended in a pitched battle led by members of the then revolutionary group Bandera Roja. Of course, despite the incident, the fight continued and, as we can all see today, the school was a reality.
To this we must add her struggles to improve public transport in the area or the creation of the first Socio-Cultural Center not only in the neighborhood, but also in Arrecife, which, according to Ana Morales, was built "with the help of the neighbors, who contributed their grain of sand". The creation of sports courts, one of which is now named after her, as well as improvements in cleaning, lighting and gardens were other things that were achieved for this neighborhood.
"We were real revolutionaries, but that's how things were achieved," says Ana Morales, who recalls, laughing, that the then president of the Cabildo, Nicolás de Páez, "hid" when he saw them appear. Now, she adds, "that has been lost". "We need more people like her, and in these moments that we are living, much more," says Morales.
But her actions are not only limited to material facts, but also to good deeds for the people of the neighborhood. And, according to another close friend of hers and announcer of Radio Lanzarote, José Domingo Hernández, she was a woman "very committed" to the people of the neighborhood, especially "to the elderly and children". "I think that people who care about others as Estrella Machín did selflessly, I'm not saying that there are none left, but few", he indicates.
In this sense, Hernández points out, Estrella Machín "visited and helped the elderly in the neighborhood", as well as "the most needy families". She even took the little ones on excursions, recalls her other friend, Ana Morales. "She gave up to five or six trips to take them all," she says.
Politics was also present in the life of Estrella Machín, who joined the Asamblea Canaria Nacionalista in 1986, although it was a short path because, shortly after, she ended up leaving. She was also a member of several religious groups, including Cáritas.
Finally, in 1991 she decided to leave the Neighborhood Association of Tinasoria, moving to Costa Teguise "for work reasons". However, just a year later, and after learning that she had bone cancer, she died, remaining in the memory of those who knew her.
"No tears or sadness in her farewell"
On the afternoon of March 4, 1992, Estrella Machín said goodbye to all her loved ones but, says Ana Morales, "none imagined" what was going to happen. And, the next morning and after having been looking for her, her car was found in the area of the Risco de Famara. Shortly after, her body appeared.
In her vehicle, a notebook was found where she wrote her last wishes and messages to her loved ones. There, she apologized for the decision she had made. She also explained how she wanted her funeral to be and so it was. She asked to be buried in the ground and that her coffin be red and carry a red and a white rose, as well as a daisy and a Bible.
In addition, she asked that the "Ode to Joy" be heard since, says José Domingo Hernández, "she did not want tears or sadness". And, in this way, fulfilling her last wishes, those who knew her gathered to say their last goodbye in a massive funeral.
The reason for her decision was unknown to all, although those who knew her best assure that she suffered from bone cancer of which "very few knew" and that she always said that "she did not want to lie in a bed or give problems to her family". The truth is, whatever it was, that day Tinasoria lost part of its history.