The canning industry was what brought forward thousands of families from Lanzarote, from the sale of salted fish to Gran Canaria and Tenerife to the canneries, the first of them by the hand of the Lamberti in La Rocar.
It was at that moment when our sailors improved their boats and their women got jobs in those factories, which allowed them to get out of the misery in which they lived back then. From there, there was a turning point, from an Arrecife that was in misery to an Arrecife of progress. It was then when the houses of the Valterra neighborhood were built, better known as the houses of the Marquis of Valterra, a politician of the time who promoted those houses today linked to humble and struggling families of sailors who still fight today but for other reasons in a neighborhood devastated by misgovernment.
But Arrecife is what it is today thanks to the seafaring essence that over the years has been losing steam, but we must not disassociate ourselves from fishing activity because that is our only true hallmark, our tourist potential. Also the San Ginés festivities have lost steam in recent years and that is why we must boost not only our seafaring essence but also our patron saint festivities, which let us not forget that for more than four decades they were declared of National Tourist Interest.
Arrecife has always had only two major festivals, those of San Ginés and Carnivals, and knowing that the dances of our capital were so famous that boats came packed from Gran Canaria and Tenerife produces some unease and some melancholy.
But recognizing those who have contributed with their knowledge or experience to make Arrecife what it is today is always worthy of gratitude, and the moment I knew the name of the town criers, only words of gratitude came to me to whoever put on the table the name of the Friends of Portonao, because although in 1996 they already proclaimed the festivities of San Ginés and in 2011 they did it in the neighborhood of Altavista, it is always a reason for joy to have groups that have contributed the true seafaring essence, an essence that we must not lose and of which we are still in time to recognize if we want to preserve what is ours.
Friends of Portonao, a group that will always be guided by the musical compilation Velas y vientos del Pasado (Sails and winds of the Past); a broad and magnificent book with texts and photographs of Arrecife of yesterday. The Friends of Portonao with Pepe Borges at the head have been the best ambassadors of our history that transfer the seafaring airs of Arrecife to wherever they go.
Pepe Borges said some time ago that everyone sees Arrecife as a lemon that we have to squeeze, what a great truth and so much that it still has to squeeze.
You don't just have to be old to know the history of Arrecife, but be young and eager to know it.
*Jacobo Medina is deputy spokesman for the PP in the Arrecife City Council
