The popular sculpture of Barlovento, which César Manrique placed in the Canary Islands park in 1970 and was removed in 2002, at the beginning of the works of the new public space and parking lots, has returned this Tuesday to the roundabout located in front of the Arrecife Gran Hotel. Thus, the "Homage to the sailor", popularly known as "the scrap metal", by our universal artist, once again presides over the city of Arrecife, receiving with its curious forms all the residents and visitors of this quintessential maritime capital.
The two deputy mayors of the Arrecife City Council, Pedro de Armas and Eduardo Lasso, the councilors of Culture and Public Works, Lorenzo Lemaur and Gabriel González, respectively, and Toñín Ramos, a worker at the Tourist Centers and connoisseur of the work of César Manrique, attended the placement of this sculpture. Precisely, Toñín Ramos carried with him a photograph of the sculpture in its original location, which "has been fully respected", according to reports from the Consistory.
In this sense, Lorenzo Lemaur has pointed out that the capital Consistory awarded the transfer of this sculpture to the center of Arrecife so that it would be placed before the start of the San Ginés festivities. The capital city councilor explained that the City Council was trying to ensure that the work of placing Barlovento was brought forward to the 'sangineles', with the aim that the work of placing this well-known sculpture "would not harm the normal development of these festivities, which imply a significant increase in the transit of population through that central area of the capital".
In any case, the company had one month, from July 30, 2010, the date of signing the contract, to carry out the work of transferring and placing said sculpture, in addition to its lighting and the location of a kind of bench that imitates the one existing in the old Canary Islands park and that the César Manrique Foundation (FCM) wanted to be respected.
'The scrap metal'
Also known as "Homage to the sailor" and popularly as "the scrap metal", this work was built with iron ship waste in 1970. Barlovento is a marine term that indicates the opposite direction to that followed by the prevailing winds, that is, the direction from which the wind arrives.
The sculpture has been in a Cabildo warehouse in Argana Alta all this time. The work has been renovated for its placement.
