There are moments in a people's history that are not explained by great military feats or by lavish works (or crosses) of stone, but by something much quieter and, at the same time, more lasting: the will to think, to debate, to educate oneself. The Canary Islands had one of those moments at the end of the 19th century, when a group of men decided that progress would not come solely from ports or commerce, but from shared knowledge. That space was called the Gabinete de Instrucción of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
It was not a casual or ornamental initiative. It emerged in a turbulent time, marked by political changes, social inequality, and a deep sense of being on the periphery. In that context, creating a place dedicated to thought was almost an act of rebellion. The Gabinete was not merely a cultural society. It was, above all, an attitude. In a still fragmented Canary Islands with enormous educational deficiencies, it represented an exercise in intellectual courage: creating a space for debate, reading, science, literature, and civic reflection. Identity, modernity, education, and the future were discussed there, when everything invited resignation to a secondary role on the map
Those cabinets —because they were not exclusive to Tenerife— were born from a deep and almost uncomfortable conviction: a people that does not educate itself ends up being administered by others. And that idea, so relevant today, resonated with a generation that understood that progress could not be imposed from the outside nor limited to infrastructure, but had to be built from within, from collective consciousness and critical thinking.
Looking at the Cabinet of Instruction today is also looking at ourselves. Because Arrecife, like so many Canary Islands cities, has historically lived between the urgency of the day-to-day and the need for long-term thinking. A port, a border, a city of accelerated growth, Arrecife has been more a place of passage than of pause. More decisive than reflective. And yet, every time the city has truly advanced, it has done so when it has known how to stop and reflect, to debate its model, and to imagine its future.
It is no coincidence that, over time, cultural movements, neighborhood associations, and spaces for debate and civic engagement have emerged in Arrecife that, while acknowledging the differences, recall that spirit of the Gabinete. Places where it is understood that a city is not just urban planning and concrete, but also thought, memory, and collective project. Where it is assumed that building a city is also building citizenship.
Today, when we talk about planning, urban models, housing, or social cohesion, we are essentially resuming that conversation started more than a century ago: what kind of Canary Islands do we want to be and what role do our cities play in that common narrative. The Cabinet of Instruction reminds us that progress without conscience is fragile, that growth without reflection ends up being unequal, and that public decisions must be supported by an informed, critical, and participatory citizenry.
Perhaps the greatest legacy of that Cabinet is not in its minutes or its conferences, but in something much deeper: in having demonstrated that the Canary Islands could think of itself without complexes, with its own voice and with intellectual ambition. That we were not solely a territory to administer, but a society capable of reflecting on its identity, its development model, and its common future
Today, as Arrecife faces decisions that will shape its physiognomy and its soul for decades, that lesson takes on full meaning. Governing a city is not just about zoning land, building infrastructure, or resolving emergencies; it is, above all, about assuming the responsibility of thinking about it. Thinking about it with rigor, with memory, and with a vision for the future.
Because the cities that endure are not those that grow the fastest, but those that know when to stop, look themselves in the eye, and decide what they want to be. And because, in the end, true progress always begins the same way: when a community comes together, asks itself questions, and dares to think
