The El Aljibe exhibition hall hosted the posthumous tribute to the official chronicler Gregorio Barreto. An event organized by the Board of Chroniclers of the Canary Islands and the Haría City Council.
A simple and emotional act for someone who was a cultural reference in the municipality of Haría. The Councilor for Culture of the Haría City Council, Evelia García, began the act by welcoming the public who filled the permitted capacity. Among those who attended were Barreto Viñoly's daughter, Beatriz Barreto, José Fernando Díaz, chronicler of Icod de los Vinos and president of the chroniclers of the Canary Islands, Juan Carlos Díaz chronicler of La Palma, Juan Sebastián López chronicler of Gran Canaria, Esteban Rodríguez chronicler of Yaiza, Francisco Hernández chronicler of Teguise and the Memorialists of Lanzarote residents of Haría, Jesús Perdomo and Óscar Torres.
Councilor Evelia García highlighted the magnificent work of research and dissemination of the history and customs of the municipality of Haría carried out by Gregorio Barreto throughout his extensive research activity. Facts that made him worthy of numerous awards throughout his life, being the first winner of the Haría 1996 awards and was later appointed Official Chronicler of Haría in 2002, due to his extensive and fruitful work in favor of historical research of the municipality.
Next, Francisco Hernández, Official Chronicler of Teguise, took the floor, who highlighted the commitment to spread the culture of his municipality and Lanzarote, an objective that Gregorio Barreto championed until his last days, highlighting the love for the land that in turn prevented him from leaving Maguez as a large number of neighbors did who sought new adventures in Arrecife and outside of Lanzarote.
Gregorio read, devoured books, and became a laboratory of letters, of knowledge, which prepared him to join the staff of his City Council, of which he served on numerous occasions as accidental secretary, a position he also held in the Justice of the Peace Court. His incursion through his work, the dialogue with the elderly, motivated that man who felt the need, not only to know but to work for the history, customs and traditions of his municipality, which he reflected in the Hoja del Municipio de Haría, in his column "El Mirador de Guatifay".
He also worried about extending it to the rest of the Canary Archipelago through his participation in the annual magazine "Crónicas de Canarias, which is published by the Board of Chroniclers. Barreto was aware that the future generations of this municipality should not only know the historical data or the customs and traditions that are inherited from parents to children, but that these knowledge had to be completed with something as important as the language of the people and he dedicated his whole life to it, and finally after so much work and effort his work "Encyclopedia of the popular Canarian language" saw the light.
The recognition ceremony was closed by the President of the Chroniclers of the Canary Islands, José Fernando Díaz, positively valuing Barreto's disposition and commitment as a champion of culture and availability with the Board of Chroniclers, from which they will continue working to ensure that his work remains in time. immediately afterwards a commemorative plaque was presented to the daughter, Beatriz Barreto, who very excited and grateful collected surrounded by the Chroniclers present and the mayor of the municipality, Victor Robayna, who joined after sharing with his neighbors from the town of Maguez the festivity of their patron saint Santa Barbara.
Finally, it was recalled that in 2010 Gregorio Barreto's work is recognized at the island level and he receives the title of Academic from the Academy of Sciences and Engineering of Lanzarote.
