One was born in Los Valles and the other in Máguez. Both, without any family ties, shared a first name: Juan José, and a last name: De León. In the agricultural field, they were known as Juan José (Pepe among friends and neighbors) and Juan Santana. Aside from these anecdotal facts, they had the same vision of agriculture. Both possessed magnificent knowledge about a variety of crops whose seeds they guarded jealously. They knew where and when to plant depending on the type of soil, what the winter had been like, and the time of year. Their opinions coincided regarding the decisions to be made according to the state of the harvest. They were accomplished observers of the entire vegetative cycle of the plant, as well as knowledgeable about the measures that should be applied to the soil to guarantee its preservation for future generations.
They argued for the need to provide farmers with mechanization that, while respecting the fragility of the soils, would facilitate the execution of certain agricultural tasks. They expressed a growing concern about the bad practices that have recently been carried out in sand mulching, which put its conservation at risk. They also complained about the lack of an island agricultural policy and the frequent water cuts for irrigation.
They liked to exchange opinions with other farmers about the weather, the crops, or the possible presence of frost.
Furthermore, they were imbued with a manifest sensitivity for this land that they could not hide. In both converged an identical desire to transmit the knowledge acquired during a lifetime dedicated to the countryside of Lanzarote. Likewise, they possessed an innate curiosity to experiment or discover something new. Sometimes it was Juan José who designed and built in his workshop in the Lower Valley that tool that could make some of the agricultural tasks more bearable, and other times, it was Juan Santana who rescued and cataloged that variety of grape that remained forgotten in a vine pit on a hillside of the Corona Volcano.
Logically, there were aspects of their personalities that set them apart, since Juan José liked to work, away from all prominence, in the silence of his small workshop where he would devise the new contraption to be built; while Juan Santana was a charismatic leader in its purest form, gifted with that ability to stimulate and mobilize people.
To describe Juan José, it is best to use the words that Juan Santana wrote in the dedication of his book entitled "A Journey Through the Agricultural History of Lanzarote"; where he defines Juan José as "inventor, engineer, artist and ahead of his time...". He took the book to the hospital where he was admitted as a sign of the great affection they had for each other. Juan José was never able to read it because he died a few days later.
We had the opportunity to meet Juan José, and he was one of those people who, as soon as you talk to them, you realize that their mind is in another dimension, as their ability to reason is also superior. He devised, designed, and built, with the limited resources of his workshop: a grain separator, a potato planter, another for chives, and, lastly, he was working on a lentil harvester. The people of the SAT fondly remember the trip made with him to Tenerife to commission the construction of a chive planter that had to be made following his instructions so that it could be adapted to the soils of Lanzarote. The elders say that in his time he was admired in the village for his agility in using the board in the gavias. Juan José never wanted to be the center of attention, so it is only fair to show him infinite gratitude for all his hours in the workshop, spent with the sole purpose of facilitating the work of the fields for the farmers of this island. As for Juan Santana, from the beginning we appreciated his inexhaustible capacity for work, as well as the ease with which he could perform multiple tasks at once. One day, as President of the Association of Friends of Wine and Cheese of Lanzarote, while organizing a wine and cheese tasting, he was planning the association's next trip, and still had hours left to schedule the next pruning and fruit tree grafting course. But, with the same energy, the next day, as president of the José Clavijo y Fajardo Canarian Foundation, he was able to review in his head the presentation of a conference on the History of the Canary Islands while on his way to the airport to pick up the professor from the University of Las Palmas in charge of giving the lecture.
He was also a tireless fighter, demanding the best for his land and its people; and so we could see him defending the demands of the primary sector with the same passion, whether in a meeting of farmers or in an appearance before any public official. And he still had, although it may not seem like it, plenty of time to tend his vines and produce exquisite artisanal wines.
Now it is up to the partners and members of the Association and the Foundation to honor his memory by guaranteeing the continuity of both organizations.
Juan José left in 2017 and Juan Santana last August. If there were a place in the afterlife, surely our friends will meet again and talk about their affairs: how the winter has been, how the crops are coming, if there are new pests, if the water cuts for irrigation will continue, how the price of potatoes is, and also, of course, they will question again if there is an agricultural plan. And they will have, now, a while to talk about the book.
One of the first decisions, before starting the SAT El Jable project, was to talk to the people we considered to be references in the primary sector, and both Juan José and Juan Santana were and will always be our references.
We will both be extremely grateful for the teachings received and the definitive push that both of you gave to the implementation of the SAT with your words: "For agriculture to have a future, we must unite."
Thank you for everything.