The San Bartolomé City Council has conveyed its condolences and sorrow for the death of the craftsman Felipe de León, known as "El Tonelero", whom they define as "a humble and endearing man" who "received numerous prizes and awards for his work during his lifetime".
"San Bartolomé always lavished him as he deserved and today mourns his loss with great regret", the City Council said in a statement. In addition, the mayoress María Dolores Corujo wanted to convey her condolences "to family, friends, neighbors and island society, because Felipe was an admired man throughout the island".
From the Consistory they emphasize that with him "one of the artisan works that made this municipality proud is gone, from that small workshop on Avenida Alcalde Antonio Cabrera Barrera". In addition, they recall that this craftsman "with his hands knew how to polish staves during a lifetime dedicated to carefully assembling those barrels that he loved so much".
A sculpture in his honor
Felipe de León, who was also the son of a cooper, even has a sculpture in his honor. During its inauguration, they highlighted that he had been in charge of "keeping this traditional trade alive" and of transmitting it in turn to his nephew and his son.
"In our small history, built with small gestures, some words, small heroic actions, colorful anecdotes and popular wisdom as the mortar that sustains it, in it the artisans are fundamental pieces. People who, like Felipe de León, to whom we dedicate this sculpture, have loved and kept their work alive despite the harshness of the artisanal, keeping open the last cooper's workshop in the archipelago, are the ones who deserve all the recognition we can give them", they highlighted in that act.
