The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León Machín, has decreed three days of official mourning for the passing of Arrecife writer Antonio Félix Martín Hormiga. From this Monday, December 1st, until Thursday, December 4th, the official flags of Arrecife will fly at half-mast as a sign of official mourning in municipal buildings.
In the decree of mourning, the City Council suspends public activities that are directly organized by this Institution during the next three days. The plenary session of the Arrecife City Council, in its meeting on October 31, unanimously agreed to propose Antonio Félix Martín Hormiga as the Favorite Son of Arrecife, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations on Honors and Distinctions of this capital city council.
"Antonio Félix Martín Hormiga, better known as Félix Hormiga, was very attached to our city and port of Arrecife, his native municipality, highlighted Mayor Yonathan de León today, recalling that by unanimous decision of the Arrecife City Council plenary session, he was designated to receive the highest distinction, Favorite Son of Arrecife.
Hormiga was born in Arrecife, Lanzarote, on April 14, 1951, and became a councilor in this Arrecife City Council. Furthermore, during his life, he was a prominent writer and historian. A multifaceted author, his literary work ranges from short stories to poetry, chronicles, children's and young adult literature, theater—as a playwright, director, actor, and founder of the Regartija group—and visual arts, participating in several exhibitions.
He also worked in the press, collaborating in newspapers and magazines (he was the director of Litoral magazine), and in cultural management, as director of the “Agustín de la Hoz” House of Culture, and head of the “El Almacén” Insular Center for Culture. His work has been characterized by a permanent reflection on Canarian identity, from its most individual aspects to the most collective and historical ones.
Yonathan de León, as mayor of Arrecife, "conveys official condolences to all his family, loved ones, and numerous friends, and regrets this irreparable loss of one of its distinguished residents who advocated for Canarian culture and identity." Antonio Félix Martín Hormiga "was a great cultural creator born in our city and his literary work compiles a large part of the coastal history of Arrecife, to which Hormiga contributed to preserve and disseminate it," highlighted the mayor.
The culture of Arrecife and Lanzarote will remain more united to Antonio Félix Martín Hormiga, whose cultural and literary legacy is reflected as one of its illustrious sons. Hormiga was hospitalized when he learned, a month ago, that the Arrecife City Council plenary session had unanimously nominated him as Favorite Son of Arrecife, his native city.
