As every year, the month of September in Yaiza is marked by the celebration of the festivities in honor of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios. The celebration began yesterday with the proclamation by Román Rodríguez, deputy for the province of Las Palmas, president of Nueva Canarias-Nueva Gran Canaria and former president of the Government of the Canary Islands, who in his speech made a journey through the history of the municipality, its economic and social vicissitudes, highlighting the progress that has been made in recent decades and betting on a sustainable economic model that, in his words, will make Yaiza the most relevant tourist municipality in the Canary Islands.
First European settlement
For this, the herald began by pointing out that the Norman Jean de Bethencout was undoubtedly right "when choosing, at the beginning of the 15th century, what is today the municipality of Yaiza as the place to carry out what would be the first European settlement in our Islands". In this way, it became the link with the Europe of which we are now part as a differentiated and ultraperipheral region.
In this sense, the herald recalled how the excellent natural conditions, such as the good anchorages and the absence of dangerous currents, justified this choice and determined the possibility of the development of an area that, in a stage of history, became one of the main granaries of the Canary Islands.
Origin of the Los Remedios parish
On the other hand, Román Rodríguez evoked the origin of the Los Remedios parish, declared a historical-artistic monument in 1986 and restored in the mid-90s, as well as the relevance of its festivities. To do this, he first made a reference to the natural catastrophes suffered in the town.
"An area devastated centuries later by the violence of volcanic activity, especially that of Timanfaya, which extended between 1730 and 1736 and of which the priest Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo, first parish priest of Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, left detailed testimony, hermitage built between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century that is an artistic monument, invocation that replaced the initially planned one of San Francisco Javier, possibly due to the secular situation of hardships of the parishioners", commented Román Rodríguez.
An eruption, recalled the herald, that buried several towns and that, in addition, substantially modified the landscape and the living conditions themselves.
Laborious character of its men and women
Román Rodríguez stated that one of the keys to the historical development of the municipality has been the laborious character of its men and women, capable of successfully facing the greatest problems as well as getting ahead by overcoming the most painful hardships with work and intelligence. Difficulties that forged the character of generations and that persist in its current inhabitants.
Thus, in his text he stated: "On different occasions its people, simple, humble and hardworking, always knew how to overcome the difficulties originated in the immense power of Nature, as they also did to the cyclical economic crises and the heartbreak of the forced migrations to Gran Canaria, Tenerife or America".
Economy
The herald made an approach to the evolution of the economic model of Yaiza, so he spoke of the "livestock and agricultural in most of its history, its economic model does not begin to change until the last quarter of the 20th century with the birth of tourism". On this point, Román Rodríguez assured that the municipality constitutes one of the great tourist references of the Island both for its coasts and for its beaches "of enormous quality".
The herald also praised the fact that Yaiza houses most of the Timanfaya Natural Park, as well as other enclaves of great interest "for those who visit us such as El Golfo, the Janubio salt flats or some towns that have known how to modernize while preserving their beauties and traditions".
For Román Rodríguez Yaiza is past, present and, above all, future. In this regard, he highlighted that the municipality has a privileged nature and a quality tourist offer. "This is the path that leads to a future with guarantees, that of tourist excellence, both in model facilities and in a complementary leisure offer or the maintenance of a gastronomy with roots", said the herald.
Finally, in the opinion of Román Rodríguez, these are undoubtedly the most deeply rooted festivities, not only in the municipality, but in the whole of Lanzarote; and that have known how to adapt to the changes experienced by society without losing an iota of their popular flavor, of their maintenance of the traditions that have shaped us as a differentiated people.