Image: Sergio Betancort
The camel drivers who guide thousands of tourists through the Mountains of Fire, in the Timanfaya National Park (Lanzarote), received the AMUPARNA 2013 Award this Friday, which distinguishes their sustainable tourism experience for several decades in one of the most emblematic and visited sites not only in the Canary Islands, but throughout the Spanish territory.
Representing the camel drivers of Lanzarote, in a ceremony held at the Municipal Theater of Tinajo, were several members of this group, who were delighted to thank the award given by the Association of Municipalities with Territory in National Parks (AMUPARNA), led by its president, Dolores Escalona Sánchez, at the proposal of the municipalities of Yaiza and Tinajo, municipalities associated in AMUPARNA.
Likewise, within the framework of the XVII Conference of Municipalities and National Parks, AMUPARNA awarded the initiative "Arboretum de Panes", presented by the mayor of Peñamellera Baja de Asturias, José Manuel Fernández, belonging to the Picos de Europa National Park. This action, according to the first mayor of the Asturian town, "has meant an important recovery of wetlands and the creation of 34 jobs." Likewise, the project of "Biomass for Employment" of the Almonte City Council was distinguished with the AMUPARNA 2013 award. The municipal delegate of Tourism of the Consortium from Almonte, Rocío Villa was in charge of collecting the award.
Moments before, the mayor of Yaiza, Gladys Acuña, explained to delegates from 78 municipalities in Spain the historical importance of the camel drivers of Timanfaya, of whom she said, "they are already part of the landscape of Lanzarote."
Acuña recalled the use of camels in agricultural tasks at the dawn of the century XX and the appearance of the first informal rides in the Mountains of Fire from the beginning of the fifties. The mayor of Yaiza showed images of the time and documents that show that the City Council southern already regulated the activity since the sixties.
Gladys Acuña maintained that the livelihood of about forty families from the town of Uga depends on camel rides in Timanfaya, where the service is provided by an authorized route with an average of 130 animals each day, depending on demand. Yaiza is the only place in the Archipelago where there is a nucleus of camel farms managed by family businesses, the vast majority settled in Uga.
Currently there are 290 licenses for camels that operate in Timanfaya, managed by 18 ranchers and regulated by the Yaiza City Council. Not However, the camel herd of the municipality is registered on about 400 animals, all raised in the Vallito de Uga.
From this location, when it is still early in the morning, the caravan of animals to provide the service in Timanfaya. It is 7 kilometers of route, which takes an hour and a half, from Vallito de Uga to the camel station of the National Park, a beautiful image that with the first rays of the sun and with the sunset, after completing the intense day of work, continues to be a source of inspiration for visual artists and audiovisual producers.
The crisis has also knocked on the door of the camel drivers. Throughout 2012, there were 138,791 trips were recorded. From January to September of that year the number of trips totaled 113,092, while in the same period of 2013 the figure reached 98,983 trips. That is, about 12.5 percent less, past the months of July and August, where the highest peaks are usually reached travels.
This means, stressed the mayor, an enormous effort to maintain the activity. Forages and feed are brought from the Peninsula, so the cost of maintenance of each camel ranges between 150 and 200 euros per month.
The mayor of Yaiza was proud of the national recognition of the camel drivers because in addition to their cultural value and contribution to the tourism industry of Lanzarote "it is impossible to imagine Timanfaya without camels, it is like tearing part of the history of the Island of Volcanoes."
The work of the camel driver is not only to guide the caravan in Timanfaya so that the visitors enjoy the ride. They maintain the specimens, feed them and pamper them. Once in the shed, they load the row, watch that the tourists are comfortable and safe, lift the row and walk. His working day begins near four in the morning. The camel drivers have plenty of reasons to be deserving of the AMUPARNA 2013 Award.
