There are dates that, although they do not necessarily appear on official calendars of events, allow us to understand an essential part of the recent history of a territory. August 26 is one of them. Looking back at this date leads to a story of microphones, newspapers, journalists, citizens, and protagonists of island life. A story in which Radio Lanzarote and La Voz de Lanzarote occupy a particularly significant place.
A radio that became the voice of the island
Radio Lanzarote began its broadcasts in 1972 and very soon became a fundamental reference for Lanzarotean society. Its birth coincided with an island that was beginning to experience an economic, tourist, and social transformation of enormous depth. In those years, Lanzarote had a still very limited tourist infrastructure, while the landscape, the economy, and future expectations began to change.
The station was a pioneer not only in Lanzarote but also within the radio landscape of the Canary Islands. Its signal reached Fuerteventura, where it became the first and for a time the only radio station of its time. That ability to reach homes on two islands further reinforced its status as a reference medium.
The project was initially linked to Juan Perdomo and Guillermo Montes, with Agustín Acosta joining as a announcer. After Perdomo's departure, Agustín Acosta took on a decisive role in the consolidation of the station, which eventually became a family business. Decades later, his children would remain linked to the management of a project that had become part of Lanzarote's collective memory.
More than a station: a space for society
From its early years, Radio Lanzarote combined information, education, and entertainment. Journalists, writers, intellectuals, politicians, artists, and representatives of numerous groups passed through its microphones. Among the collaborators linked to its early stages are names such as Guillermo Topham, Rafael Ángel Domínguez, Leopoldo Cabrera, and Agustín de la Hoz.
Programs like Lanzarote va de ronda left a special mark on several generations of listeners. So did initiatives like the Rally Frangollo, a peculiar gymkhana through different parts of the island, or the well-known practical jokes that during the nineties even involved institutions and security forces as involuntary collaborators or accomplices.
Technology was very different then. Reels, cartridges, vinyl records, and cassettes were part of the station's routine. Sometimes, to broadcast an interview, one had to bring the telephone close to the microphone. That technological precariousness contrasts with today's radio, which can broadcast simultaneously on the internet, social networks, and digital platforms. However, the essence remains: giving voice to the citizens.
César Manrique and the open microphone
Within that history, there is a particularly relevant chapter: César Manrique's relationship with Radio Lanzarote. Techy Acosta recalled that the station's first studios were at Mancomunidad avenue number 14, in a property linked to Manrique. The artist came and went naturally, and when he considered it necessary to convey a message, he could address the microphones directly.
The anecdote that best summarizes that relationship was recorded in a round table discussion at the César Manrique Foundation dedicated to the artist's media dimension. Techy Acosta recalled that Manrique would enter Radio Lanzarote and say to its director, Agustín Acosta: "Agustín, I'm going to speak." The phrase summarizes a way of understanding communication that is difficult to imagine today: a personality with enormous influence who found a direct space in a local radio station to address society.
The relationship was not just personal. Radio Lanzarote was the first major media platform for many of Manrique's demands. Through its microphones, he began to defend concepts that at the time could be considered advanced or even uncomfortable: the protection of the territory, a quality tourism model, sustainability, landscape conservation, and the need to avoid uncontrolled transformation of Lanzarote.
Those interventions connected with a society that was beginning to wonder what the price of tourism development would be. Radio allowed those questions to leave small circles and reach homes directly.
From radio to print: La Voz de Lanzarote is born
On December 1, 1985, La Voz de Lanzarote was born as a weekly publication. Its appearance was not an isolated event, but the natural evolution of a communication project that already had a radio station with a strong social presence. The intention was for the new newspaper to accompany Radio Lanzarote, then the island's only radio station. The name of the newspaper also emerged from that radio station that had become the voice of Lanzarote.
The first stage was that of a weekly newspaper. The project was promoted by Agustín Acosta and was born with the will to contribute to the public life of the island from its own journalistic perspective. Over the years, La Voz consolidated and in 1992 it made the leap to daily publication. In September 1995, it also became one of the first newspapers in Spain to have a digital edition.
The history of both media thus became intertwined. Radio Lanzarote provided the immediacy of voice and conversation. La Voz de Lanzarote added the possibility of documenting events in writing, preserving photographs, interviews, headlines, and debates. Through the two formats, an extraordinary archive of Lanzarote's transformation was built.
August 26, 1988: a date that speaks again
Precisely three years after the newspaper's birth, on August 26, 1988, La Voz de Lanzarote published an interview with César Manrique whose headline is particularly revealing: "The people of Lanzarote know who is responsible for what is happening on the island." The interview occupied several pages and reflected the tone of an era marked by growing concern about the development model.
The headline was not an isolated phrase. It was part of a social context in which tourist growth, urban planning, and territorial transformation had become the center of debate.
Manrique had made the defense of Lanzarote a public issue and used the media to amplify his message.
The date thus acquires special significance: the same communication project that had allowed Manrique to speak directly into the microphones of Radio Lanzarote was leaving a written record of his positions in La Voz. The radio and the newspaper acted as two complementary instruments of the same island conversation.
El Guincho, Los Pocillos, and a society that was beginning to mobilize
In those years, citizen mobilizations related to the defense of the territory also gained strength. El Guincho became a reference for the Lanzarote environmental movement and one of the spaces from which the development model that was transforming the island was questioned.
The episodes related to Los Pocillos are part of that same climate of mobilization. The presence and interventions of César Manrique in defense of the landscape symbolized the growing concern about actions that could irreversibly alter the territory.
The importance of the media in that process was decisive. Radio made it possible for a protest, a complaint, or a statement to be heard almost at the same time. The newspaper later allowed the event to be reconstructed, preserved, and turned into part of Lanzarote's documentary memory.
A relationship that survived the passage of time
The history of Radio Lanzarote continued to incorporate new generations of professionals. Among the best-known collaborations was that of journalist José María García, whose professional relationship with the station was also later recorded in La Voz de Lanzarote. Radio Lanzarote maintained a link with the Cope network for years and, since 2012, became part of Onda Cero.
Technological evolution modified the formats, but not the essential function. Radio left behind reels and cassettes and began to incorporate cameras, live streaming on the internet, and social networks. La Voz, for its part, later abandoned print and consolidated its digital presence.
The digitization of the historical archive of La Voz de Lanzarote also made it possible to recover printed publications from 1985 to 2005. Thousands of news articles, reports, and photographs became accessible to researchers, journalists, and citizens. In this way, the newspaper not only informs about the present: it also preserves a fundamental part of the island's memory.
Techy Acosta and the continuity of a story
The figure of Techy Acosta occupies a particular place in this continuity. A journalist specializing in radio and television, linked to the direction of Radio Lanzarote and the editing of La Voz de Lanzarote, she has explained on different occasions how both media are part of the same family and journalistic history.
In that trajectory also appears the personal memory of having heard and known stories of a radio that functioned as an authentic public square. His memory of César Manrique entering the studios and saying "Agustín, I'm going to talk" allows us to understand to what extent those microphones were open to society and to those who had something to say.
The César Manrique Foundation itself has recorded this relationship in its documentation on the artist's media dimension. In a round table held in 2012, Techy Acosta explained that anecdote to journalists who analyzed Manrique's ability to use the media and generate public debate.
From major events to small stories
The history of these media is not limited to major territorial controversies. It is also made up of thousands of everyday stories: neighborhoods, festivals, sports, culture, interviews, citizen complaints, family events, and small incidents that, over time, acquire documentary value.
This capacity to preserve the everyday also explains the value of journalistic archives. A news item that might have seemed minor at the time can, decades later, become an essential piece for understanding how a generation lived, what concerned neighbors, or how a street, a neighborhood, or a landscape was transformed.
In this sense, Radio Lanzarote and La Voz de Lanzarote have been more than just media outlets. They have acted as a kind of external memory of the island: a sound memory first and then written, which can today be recovered thanks to the preserved and digitized archives.
A story that also reaches the present
The relationship between both media continues to be part of current events. Radio Lanzarote and La Voz de Lanzarote have maintained a synergy that has allowed them to face the changes of contemporary communication together. Radio retains the capacity for immediate conversation, and the digital newspaper offers depth, archives, and permanent updates.
Even cultural initiatives like the Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero Micro-story Contest have contributed to maintaining that link with society. In 2019, the competition was dedicated to César Manrique, and the awards ceremony was held at Taro de Tahíche, once again connecting radio, literature, and the artist's memory.
It is significant that a media outlet born in 1972 continues to use new technologies to do what has been its essence from the beginning: to inform, accompany, and give voice. And it is equally significant that the newspaper born in 1985 preserves its archive and its ability to look back while continuing to tell the present.
The value of remembering
August 26th allows us to connect several seemingly separate moments: a radio station that was born in 1972, a newspaper that began its journey on December 1st, 1985, an interview published on August 26th, 1988, and a history of citizen claims in which César Manrique found in the media an essential tool.
It is not just about remembering names or dates. It is about understanding how an island society built its own spaces for expression. Before social media, before smartphones, and before permanent internet information, there was a radio station that opened its microphones and a newspaper that put down in writing what was happening.
Radio Lanzarote was, for decades, one of the great voices of Lanzarote. La Voz de Lanzarote was born precisely from that spirit and later contributed to preserving it on paper and, subsequently, in digital format. César Manrique quickly understood the power of both media and used them to defend an idea of the island that continues to be part of the debate.
Perhaps that is why August 26th should not go unnoticed. Because behind a date there is a history of communication, journalism, and citizenship. A history that shows that local media not only report what happens: they also help to build the memory of the places they report on.
And when an island preserves its voices, it also preserves a part of itself.
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