Yaiza celebrated this Friday, at the Benito Pérez Armas House of Culture, the solemn ceremony of awarding the Title of Adoptive Son of the Municipality, posthumously, to the sports journalist Pascual Calabuig Porcal. An emotional tribute in the presence of close relatives, including his children Pascual and Carmen Calabuig Miranda, who received Parchment and Medal and signed the Book of Honors of the Historic City of Yaiza.
In this way, Pascual Calabuig Porcal is now among the illustrious people of the Historic City of Yaiza, linked, of course, to the wonderful memory he left and the affection that Yaiza and the people of Playa Blanca continue to have for him, where he spent long periods with his family.
“We honor a Valencian who loved the Canary Islands without renouncing his origins, who made the word the best dynamizer for an emerging society in sports matters, who became one with the painful landscape of Lanzarote and who made Yaiza his second home,” said Mayor Óscar Noda in his speech.
For his part, the councilor in charge of the file, Daniel Medina, said about the distinction and the figure of the honoree: “we thus recognize his legacy, his special talent, but above all the affection he always showed for Yaiza and, above all, for the residents of Playa Blanca, with whom he often conversed, with whom he often laughed, with whom he often walked, with whom he often watched life go by, as he was a very affable man and valued people with the simplicity of great men.”
On behalf of the family, Pascual Calabuig Miranda, expressed words of gratitude to the City Council for the municipal distinction to his father, highlighting “the humanism of a person who was much loved throughout the Canary Islands, who demonstrated affection and closeness in the Archipelago, who had a passion for journalism, which he did not study, but who wrote and transmitted in an incredible way due to the endless time he dedicated to reading and culture.”
Biography
The technician responsible for the tribute file, María del Pino Fuentes de Armas, narrated part of the extensive career and merits of Pascual Calabuig Porcal, recalling his origins in Valencia and his close relationship with the Canary Islands. Born in Cabañal, on October 15, 1924, Pascual Calabuig is a legend of sports press in the Canary Islands, a kind, close and familiar face who died on March 14, 2020, in Gran Canaria, at the age of 95.
“Calabuig was present at the most relevant events in the world of sports in the Canary Islands and beyond its borders. There were 56 years of continuous promotion and support, exaltation and dissemination of Canary Islands sports and athletes, always adding to their professional careers.”
He is also credited with the historic first television connection via satellite of a Canary Islands - Peninsula sports broadcast, with what this implied, and being the first announcer who, through television, directly introduced Canary Islands sports into island homes.
The journalist, among other great facets of his professional career, “is the author of the book ‘Heroes for a tribute’, in which the evolution of the 1967-68 and 68-69 seasons of the Las Palmas Sports Union is practically novelized, and which constitute until today the most outstanding classifications achieved by the yellow club in its 61 years of history.” Pascual Calabuig Porcal has numerous distinctions from the most diverse Sports Federations and is a National Award from the Spanish Sports Press Association.
In 2015, when Yaiza gave him the municipal distinction of Tourism in life, the journalist expressed a message addressed to his younger neighbors: “to you, the youngest, with more books and without being forced to eat so much gofio and pejín, it is now your turn, it is your turn to the chosen work, but especially it is your turn to do and ask that others look, elevate and dignify the tourism that made you grow, that in a certain way, between the sea and agriculture, killed your hunger and that in the future can produce happiness and a better percentage.”
Pascual Calabuig Porcal knew Playa Blanca very well and adored the south of Lanzarote, he was a constant promoter of its natural beauty in the media when the profession of influencer did not even exist. He did it out of love and without interest in compensation.
The event in Yaiza was very emotional, with the participation of residents of the municipality, civil and military authorities of Lanzarote, and also featured the extraordinary musical performance of the artists Danny Martínez, Adrián Brito and Óscar Sánchez, in charge of the preamble and closing.
