Juan Santana, former mayor of Haría and historical member of the Canarian Coalition, has died at 81 years old this Thursday morning at his home due to an illness.
Santana was born in the town of Máguez, in the municipality of Haría, and trained in teaching. Although his first destination as a teacher was on the island of Gran Canaria, he later returned to Lanzarote and assumed the direction of the San Juan school in Haría for a long period of time.
First he was a councilor in the municipality and finally, for more than a decade he was mayor, between 1971 and 1983. The Lanzarote native combined his position as mayor with that of councilor in the Cabildo of Lanzarote, where he assumed responsibilities in water management.
After leaving the mayor's office, he moved away from political life for eight years and returned as a councilor in the early 90s. Then, between 1995 and 2007, he was again a councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote.
Thus, he is also former island president of the Democratic and Social Center, former president of the Canarian Nationalist Center, former island president of the Canarian Nationalist Center and former island president of the Canarian Coalition.
Santana was named honorary president of the Canarian Coalition in Lanzarote after retiring from public life.
Simultaneously, he chaired the José Clavijo y Fajardo Canarian Foundation and the Association of Friends of Wine and Cheese of Lanzarote.
In addition, Juan Santana was awarded the Haría prize in 2013 for his work to recover the heritage, cultural, agricultural and livestock values of the land.