Arrecife bids farewell to the year with a new symbol of remembrance and gratitude. The Lanzarote capital now has a commemorative obelisk dedicated to police officers who died in the line of duty, an artistic work almost four meters high that is now part of the surroundings of the Local Police facilities.
The monument, commissioned by the Arrecife City Council to the Lanzarote sculptor Paco Curbelo, was officially inaugurated this midday in an institutional ceremony presided over by the city's mayor, Yonathan de León, coinciding with the celebration of Arrecife's Local Police Day, a commemoration that will reach its twentieth anniversary in 2026.
The sculpture recreates a sober and solemn obelisk, conceived as a permanent tribute to all officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. Its author, Paco Curbelo, has an extensive artistic career on the island and is responsible for other emblematic monuments such as the one dedicated to the Fishermen in the Port of Naos or the tribute to the winegrowers of Lanzarote in La Florida, in the Protected Landscape of La Geria.
During the ceremony, the mayor invited the deputy chief of the Arrecife Local Police, José Antonio Lasso Tabares, and the sculptor himself to unveil the plaque located at the base of the obelisk, which had been covered with the Spanish flag. It reads: "We all give something, some gave everything. In perennial memory of all the colleagues who are no longer with us and all the police officers fallen in the line of duty."
After the unveiling of the plaque, a floral offering was made in the outer gardens of the Local Police, accompanied by an escort and a guard of honor from the police force. The event was attended by a broad representation of the Security Forces and Corps in Lanzarote, members of the municipal corporation, civil and military authorities, as well as family members of the honored officers.
The commemorative day also included the presentation of 29 decorations to agents of the Arrecife Local Police. In his speech, Mayor Yonathan de León made special mention of local police officer Felipe Martín Betancort, who passed away this year after a long illness, highlighting the support and closeness he always received from his colleagues, even after his retirement.