More than 15.000 people attend the km.0 and del Sol fairs

 

More than 15.000 people came to Vecindario this weekend to meet more than fifty agricultural producers from the Southeast region who have participated in a special edition of the km.0 Gran Canaria Fair. 

 

Furthermore, the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria made this fair coincide with the Feria del Sol, the reference showcase for renewable energies in the Canary Islands, so that Avenida de Canarias became a meeting point for flavors and products these days. values ​​of a region that has been working for years for the sustainability of its land.

 

 

The strong heat of these days did not stop the great reception of both fairs, which represent another example of the line in which the municipalities of Agüimes, Ingenio and Santa Lucía have been working together in recent years. 

 

In the energy field, this area of ​​Gran Canaria has become the “cradle of renewable energies”, not in vain “almost 70% of the photovoltaic installations on the island are being made in this region,” said the manager of Sureste Renewable Refrigeration, Francisco Artiles, who once again participated in the Feria del Sol.

 

For many years, this company has offered guidance and advice to many people concerned about rising electricity prices. For this reason, this fair is “a fantastic showcase” to explain to citizens that “the electricity savings with a domestic photovoltaic plant is considerable” and show them the benefits of being energy independent.

 

In addition to offering advice, Francisco Artiles helps families finance their facilities, process the subsidies they may qualify for, and make their facility as efficient as possible.

 

Javier Rodríguez, manager and creator of Fauro motorcycles, a “totally Canarian” company that manufactures electric vehicles in the southeastern region, also seeks efficiency, but in the area of ​​mobility.

 

Javier Rodríguez's ingenuity led him to look for a solution to the continuous lack of fuel that existed for years in Fuerteventura. He thought about the sun, built a motorcycle that moved with solar energy and, seeing that it had possibilities from a commercial point of view, he began working on the homologation of the motorcycle to put it on sale. 

 

That electric motorcycle was the beginning of the Fauro Motor electric scooter brand seven years ago. Today, the company builds motorcycles, “with approved and European quality parts” that are manufactured outside the islands and that it assembles in Gran Canaria. 

 

 

The result: electric motorcycles, completely personalized according to the tastes and needs of the client, vehicles that are “very versatile, due to parking and light consumption.” Rodríguez insists that his motorcycles are “a complement, not a substitute.” “I don't want people to take away their product, but rather have mine to move around for work and the rest for leisure,” he says.

 

"What I try is to build products that are economically viable for the user, that cost little to maintain, that have the fewest possible breakdowns and that the user himself can repair them." With this philosophy he assures that more and more people are trying them and betting on their products. “Many people think it's a toy until they try it, but the motorcycles are designed beyond the performance of normal use and people are becoming convinced,” he says proudly.

 

The creator of this brand is currently working on other projects that he will also market shortly: an electric pick-up specially designed for farmers, which supports more than 1.000 kg of weight, which can be charged solarly and which will go on sale “within a little"; and a battery vending machine, in which the user can replace an empty battery with a charged one anywhere in the Canary Islands and in a few minutes.

 

The products of a sustainable land

 

In addition to renewable energies, the Southeast of the island has always been characterized by the quality and variety of its crops and fruit and vegetable products. High-quality fruits and vegetables grow on its lands, oils and wines are made, and sugar cane and salt are worked. 

 

As an example of the large amount of crops in the area, in the region alone there are three salt flats, those of Tenefé, those of Bocacangrejo and Los 4 Picos, all three present at the km.0 Fair held this weekend. The latter is the first time that it has participated in the Fair since, despite having been working very close to Arinaga beach for many years, it has recently begun to market its product. 

 

As Roque Manuel Viera, representative of Los 4 Picos, explains, these are the first salt mines in the Canary Islands certified as one hundred percent ecological, which means that no chemicals are included in their production or in any of their processes.

 

Happy with the number of people who came to his booth to ask about the product and the way it was made, Viera encouraged attendees to contact the salt mines to visit this coastal town of Agüimes and learn in person how this salt is grown. . 

 

Also participating in the km.0 Fair was Lorenzo Pérez, a professional cochineal producer who leads the company Canaturex, a project based in Ingenio that tries to recover a traditional crop that was on its way to disappearing. “Children no longer know what a prickly pear is or what a cochineal is,” lamented Pérez, who took advantage of each approach to his stand at the fair to teach the little ones – and also the adults – the uses and products in which cochineal is used.

 

Pérez has not only achieved several international awards that recognize the value given to this product in Europe, but also that this crop has become a designation of origin in 2016, among other reasons due to the way of working, the human factors linked to the crop and the soil and climate conditions of the Canary Islands: “it is what differentiates us from other crops in other countries.”

 

That is, the Canarian cochineal has a certified quality of its color concentration, which is higher than that of other countries, explains Pérez, who proudly states that in Europe “they know it perfectly” because “it is the only natural producer of carmine there are in the world and Europe is where all the carmine factories are.”

 

Producers like Lorenzo Pérez, farmers and renewable energy companies closed their stalls today after two intensive days in which, once again, the Commonwealth of the Southeast of Gran Canaria has shown that citizens are increasingly aware of the importance of consuming products local and to take advantage of the conditions of the land and climate of the island to generate clean and environmentally friendly energy.