The replica of the old mill of Playa Blanca has already begun to move its blades, 7.20 meters long each. The people in charge of the work have been Guelo and Isidro Viñoly, workers of the Yaiza City Council, who carried out the last tests this Tuesday and received the visit of the mayor, Gladys Acuña, and the councilor of Works and Mobile Park, Jonatan Lemes.
"It is a work full of precious details that evokes our past and that deserves all the recognition of society, not only for its impressive quality, but for the effort and affection of its authors reflected with a grade in the result of the mill", the mayor highlighted. The mill is not located in its old location, since there is currently a road there, but a few meters away, in the roundabout that gives access to the town by the LZ 2 road
The tower of the mill is 3.50 meters high, which added to the 7.20 meters of the blades, make the installation visible from a distance reaching more than 10 meters in total. The municipal representatives highlighted "the contribution of all the personnel of the City Council who worked in the construction of the base under the coordination of the operator Gabino Cabrera." As a complementary work, the Institution cleaned up the interior of the roundabout and placed lighting directed at the mill so that it can also be appreciated at night in all its dimension.
As explained by the Consistory, Guelo carried out the carpentry work sculpting pine wood, while Isidro was in charge of placing and assembling machinery, tensioners and all the metal parts of the mill, although they admit that they helped each other throughout the entire elaboration process that began last February.
The mills, key in the history of the island
The windmill not only gave good quality gofio, but at the time it simplified the grinding work. The Heritage Area of the Yaiza City Council recalls that a mill had been built in the municipality in the 19th century, with the family of Benito Pérez Armas among its owners. At the end of the century, the property was divided into two parts: one belonging to Mr. Benito, Ángela and Juan Pérez Armas, whose ownership they had inherited from their parents Juan Pérez García and María de la Paz Armas, and the other part belonged to Andrés Cabrera Tejera.
The two parts were bought, one in January 1899 and the other in January 1900, by José María Calero Peraza. The mill was located in the place known as Las Peñas. In 1965, Rafael Cabrera Díaz acquired the property of this mill, with another similar one existing in Los Lomos. As for the mills, two were known: one in Los Rostros, which was bought by Felipe Perdomo, who ended up installing it in Playa Blanca, and the other located in La Cuesta.
The windmill has a different structure with respect to the windmill, since its base is rectangular, while the mill is composed of a circular tower of dry stone and mud wall.
The tahonas or blood mills, the windmill, also called pajero, and the mills, represented a significant advance compared to the hand mill due to the greater amount of grain capable of crushing. Therefore, they were very important tools in the development of agricultural activities in different geographical points of Lanzarote.
