Arrecife has once again remembered the victims of the attack on the Cruz del Mar fishing boat on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary. It was on November 28, 1978, when a group of assailants boarded the boat in the waters of the Canarian-Saharan fishing bank, and ended the lives of seven fishermen from Conejero. Three of its crew members managed to survive.
Every year, under the organization of the Cruz del Mar Cultural Association, a floral offering is made on this day with the presence of the authorities of Lanzarote and relatives of the victims of that massacre that still remains in the memory of the fishing history of Lanzarote and the Canary Islands.
The mayor of Arrecife, Astrid Pérez, accompanied by councilor Roberto Herbón, participated last Saturday night in the floral offering in memory of the murdered fishermen. The president of the Cruz del Mar Association, one of the surviving fishermen, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, together with the mayor, presented the wreath on behalf of the Arrecife City Council, in memory of that marine tragedy.
The offering, in which other island authorities also participated representing various City Councils and the Island Council, took place in the lighthouse that was built in the Puerto Naos area in tribute to the victims, under the name 'The light that guides us', work of the Favorite Son of Lanzarote, Juan Brito. This area, after the conclusion last summer of the works on the promenade and lane, has a more careful urban image, with green areas and a recreation area with benches, as well as integrated LED lighting in the wind rose, which surrounds this tribute lighthouse in which there is an image of the Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of fishermen and people of the sea.
During the event, Astrid Pérez showed her respect and recognition to the Cruz del Mar Cultural Association "for the struggle that it has undertaken during these years to prevent these events and the memory of the crew of this fishing boat from being forgotten." Likewise, the first mayor concluded her speech that even today, when 42 years have passed since that terrorist attack, the Canarian people are still waiting to know the truth and for justice to be done.
The event concluded with the performance of the Iris del Mar Choir, belonging to the seaside neighborhood of Valterra, where several of the fishermen who were murdered while fishing in the waters of the Saharan Canarian Fishing Bank were from.
