The Minister for Economic Development visits the historic mill in Santa Lucía de Tirajana, which celebrates its 77th anniversary tomorrow, to explore new avenues of collaboration within the Gran Canaria Me Gusta program.
The Economic Development Councillor of the Gran Canaria Island Council visited the Pérez Gil Mill this Thursday, in the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, with the aim of analyzing possible lines of collaboration that will allow strengthening the promotion of the local product in this emblematic space linked to the tradition of gofio on the island.
During the visit, in which she was accompanied by a representative of the Gran Canaria Chamber of Commerce, the councilor was received by Olga Torres, head of the mill, along with her family, who represent the third generation at the head of this business.
The meeting served to agree on the installation of an exhibition and promotional space linked to the Gran Canaria Me Gusta program, an initiative that the Cabildo has been developing in different parts of the island to bring the local product closer to the consumer and generate new opportunities for visibility and marketing for the producers.
“We want to continue expanding the network of spaces that champion the island's products, not only in commercial or gastronomic settings, but also in places with strong cultural significance like this mill,” the councilor stated during the visit. “Gofio is part of our history and our culture, and supporting those who keep it alive is also a way of protecting who we are,” she added.
In this regard, he stressed that the objective of this type of initiative is "to generate synergies between tradition and economic development, promoting the consumption of local products in spaces that are already part of the daily lives of citizens."
Founded on April 10, 1949 by the married couple José Pérez Gil and Francisca Ramírez Cruz, the mill was born in the El Doctoral neighborhood with the purpose of supplying a growing population at a time when gofio was an essential food for many families.
The first facility, located on Juan Rejón Street, is preserved today as the Gofio Museum, an ethnographic resource that allows visitors to learn about traditional practices such as the maquila and the artisanal process of making this product so deeply rooted in Canarian culture.
Today, the mill, which was moved to its current location in Vecindario in the 80s, continues to operate and maintains an annual production of close to 100 tons, establishing itself as the only active mill in the municipality and an example of generational continuity and preservation of tradition.
Managed by Olga Torres and her children, the Molino Pérez Gil has become a space of living memory, where productive activity coexists with the transmission of a trade that is part of the cultural heritage of the Canary Islands.
The institutional visit is part of the Gran Canaria Island Council's strategy to strengthen the local productive fabric and highlight spaces that, like this mill, represent the identity, history and know-how of the island.
