The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León Machín, has decreed three days of official mourning in the capital of Lanzarote starting this Thursday due to the death of the former mayor of Arrecife, José María Espino González.
During these next three days, it will remain at half-mast in the central building of the Consistorial Houses, and the rest of the national and regional flags have been lowered, as established by the Municipal Regulations of Protocol, Ceremonial, Honors and Distinctions.
Yonathan de León has expressed his deep sorrow to his entire family, as mayor and on behalf of the entire Municipal Corporation, indicating that "the death of the professor and former mayor José María Espino is sad news for the municipality of Arrecife, which will always be grateful for his work, dedication and projection for the growth of Arrecife as a city."
The first mayor recalls that he was born in 1984 already being mayor of Arrecife José María Espino, who acceded to the mayoralty in 1983 occupying the position until 1995. The city of Arrecife has some Consistorial Houses, the Vía Medular, or the pedestrianization of the bank of the Charco de San Ginés, known as Avenida César Manrique, carried out under his mandates, among other municipal works.
José María Espino was born in the town of Guatiza in 1935 and has been, until now, the mayor of Arrecife, of the democratic era, who was in office the longest. Previously he had been a constituent deputy of the Canary Islands Board and was also a councilor and advisor. Until 2008 he was director of the Associated Center of the UNED in Lanzarote, where he was also a teacher for 32 years.
In the Benito Méndez school, in the Titerroy neighborhood, in Arrecife, many generations received their first teachings having José María Espino as a teacher.