The candidate for mayor of Haría for the Platform of the Municipality of Haría, PMH, and current mayor of the municipality, Evelia García, has pointed out that “a person so important to the municipality does not deserve this snub by any political formation, even more so when in her 97 years of life she has taken the name of Haría throughout the Canary Islands”
The candidate for mayor of Haría for the Platform of the Municipality of Haría, PMH, and current mayor, Evelia García, stated this Saturday that it is “incomprehensible and regrettable that the non-attached councilors and the PSOE have voted against the appointment of photographer Javier Reyes as a favorite son of the municipality”, since he has been a reference “at a social, cultural and patrimonial level not only in Haría, but throughout the Canary Islands”.
In this sense, she pointed out that “this agreement, which began to take shape last October during the celebration of the month of the elderly, should have gone ahead unanimously, since the first photographer in the north of the island has more than justified merits to be a favorite son of Haría”, so “this ugly thing that has been done to him, his family, and the entire municipality is not understood”.
“Javier Reyes, who has already turned 97, has carried in his reels for decades the history of Haría, Lanzarote, La Graciosa and the rest of the Chinijo Archipelago, and therefore, “we firmly believe that he deserves this recognition”, the candidate of the Platform of the Municipality of Haría pointed out.
Despite the fact that for years he had to alternate his work at the Haría City Council with the professional practice of photography, he managed to accumulate more than 17,000 negatives that “make up a magnificent and illustrative portrait of the island society of the early 20th century”.
The one who was the first photographer in the northern area of the island also specialized in ID-type photographs, when these were required obligatorily for procedures such as the DNI or the driving license. And he was also a specialist in portraits of people and customs, as well as in photographs of social events, parties, and other events.
For all these reasons, and because “part of the history of Haría is known through his lens, it is incomprehensible that any public representative can refuse his appointment as a favorite son”.
“Opposing this recognition is an unforgivable ugliness, which has no real reasons, nor any type of explanation”, reiterated the candidate for mayor for the Platform of the Municipality of Haría.
"The category of the municipalities is measured by their figures, and without a doubt, that of Javier Reyes is one of the most important that Haría has given”, concluded Evelia García.
