I dare to say that any resident of Lanzarote, who is around 50 years old, and already lived here in the 80s, is not indifferent when hearing about "El Guincho". Some will bring misgivings, others nostalgia, but ...
I dare to say that any resident of Lanzarote, who is around 50 years old, and already lived here in the 80s, is not indifferent when hearing about "El Guincho". Some will bring misgivings, others nostalgia, but we all remember the relentless fight for the defense of the island territory, exaggerated for some, fair for others, others will have no judgment, but they will remember the times of the mobilizations led by Ginés Díaz and Mario Alberto Perdomo, often supported by César Manrique.
I remember the moment of its public presentation, in the halls of the Sociedad Democracia. I remember that I was present, and also Cándido Reguera and Julio Romero, then, the three of us, young councilors of the Island Council. The three of us became members. I recognize that I was never active in the organization, but I also remember that I rejoiced every time, for a few years, I saw the annual membership fee charged to my current account. One day I was unsubscribed without being asked.
Well, I skipped specifying what a "guincho" is, but I suppose most people know that it is an endangered bird. An osprey of which there are some specimens north of the eastern islands, more specifically in the "Chinijo Archipelago". But, searching the Internet to document myself, I found, as the first proposed page, that of Ben Magec Ecologistas en Acción (www.ecologistasenaccion.org) which, dated 08/24/2005, provided the following news: "Three guinchos have been born this year on the Island. Three specimens of osprey or guincho have been born this year in El Hierro. The guincho is the most threatened bird of prey in Spain and is classified as critically endangered, with 30 to 38 nesting pairs distributed in the archipelagos of the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Chafarinas.". As I said, in danger of extinction.
While this is serious, worrying, what has suggested me to sit in front of the computer to write, under this title, has been to realize that the El Guincho Ecologist Association could be about to die. And the worst thing is that those who could be killing it, kidnapped in oblivion, are those who present themselves to the public as the main, according to them only, defenders of ecology in Lanzarote.
I kept searching the Internet, and found the official website of the group (www.benmagec.org/elguincho/index.html). I went to "history". Indeed, confirmed what I remembered. I found the following: "The origin of El Guincho. In April 1987, the Cultural and Ecologist Association of Lanzarote El Guincho was formally constituted, after a gestation process of several months, delaying the presentation to the Lanzarote community to June 30 of the same year, an event that takes place in the Sociedad Democracia of Arrecife."
Further down it says: "Once this decision was made, in the face of other minority positions that were inclined to act outside of any stable organizational approach, a group of people was convened who, in the opinion of the promoters, had recognized prestige and specific weight in the community due to their personal trajectories: César Manrique, Agustín de la Hoz, Leandro Perdomo, Estanislao González Ferrer, Agustín Pallarés, Alfredo Matallana..., to whom the project is exposed. From all of them, encouragement and support was received, in addition to the recommendation that a line of impartiality and independence from the political party system be followed."
I remember, from that time, as the most emblematic, the concentration of Los Pocillos, in which I was present. This is how the website refers to it: "The actions on the beach of Los Pocillos are part of this strategy of cornering speculation by confronting it on its own ground, while publicly opening and fueling the debate on land and urban planning in Lanzarote. The aim was to actively participate in that debate, defending the most restrictive development proposals and proposing alternatives to the proposed model.
This occurred a year after the presentation of the Association, in the summer of 1988, a year in which important mobilizations of the Lanzarote community took place, both in Puerto del Carmen and in Arrecife. Curiously, the success of these actions occurs in a framework of generalized demobilization. Perhaps the presentation of the proposals as part of an integral struggle in defense of the Lanzarote community and its future development contributed to the aforementioned success."
The chapter they call "Present of the Guincho" says: "At the beginning of the year 98, the crisis of El Guincho is evident. The board of directors has been reduced to its minimum expression. At that time, the possibility that the ecologist organization may disappear is even debated. Faced with this situation, three sectors converge in the attempt to revitalize an ecologist space in Lanzarote: the active part of the Board of Directors; a part of the group that promoted "Cuadernos del Guincho"; and a third group of people linked to environmental conservation and left-wing positions.
? and the formation of the core of the current Board of Directors of El Guincho, elected in the General Assembly of December 11, 1998.
The changes in the ecologist organization have affected emblematic issues: with the new Board, the person who had presided over El Guincho since its beginnings has changed: Ginés Díaz Pallarés, with Domingo Concepción taking that position; and, in addition, on March 8, 1999, the name "Cultural and Ecologist Association of Lanzarote El Guincho" was transformed into "El Guincho-Ecologistas en Acción"."
That is the most current thing on the official website of "El Guincho". It is obvious that the new leaders, after their internal wars, have not even bothered to update their website. Of course, they have surely dedicated themselves more to the website of Alternativa Ciudadana 25 de Mayo, and now to that of Isla Alternativa (www.isla-alternativa.org). Therefore, as I began: the Guincho, in danger of extinction, due to kidnapping and subsequent abandonment by those who have its custody today, but not its progenitors.
P.D.: Once I finished writing this, I called Miguel Ángel Morales Fernández, who informed me that the Board of Directors is in office. He clarified some things for me that, with nuances, do not lead me to touch anything already written.
