The unofficial demonyms of the southeast of Gran Canaria: a timeless tradition

 

One of the characteristics that has always stood out about the Canarian people is their closeness, their human quality and a constant joy that is based on cultural characteristics such as the rondallas, the murgas or the picantona polcas that have made more than one cry with laughter. . In short, outside its borders, the Canarian people in general have always been perceived with the "good vibes" per flag.

 

 

However, something unknown outside the borders of the archipelago are our “burlesque gentilicios”, a tradition established by our grandparents and great-grandparents to refer to the residents of other towns and municipalities that, between sarcasm and originality, have been preserved over time. weather.

 

 

Unlike what has happened with many other traditions typical of the archipelago, that of the burlesque demonyms has been maintained, it is very rare that a young person or even a child does not know which islands we are referring to when saying conejero, chicharrero or majorero… And not only if we refer to island demonyms, in the southeast of Gran Canaria we find a couple of these quite curious colloquialisms.

 

 

If we say that we have a pig or lizard friend outside the archipelago, they may look at us strangely; However, if we do it in Gran Canaria it will be well known that we mean that we have a friend in Ingenio or Agüimes, respectively.  

 

However Where do those names come from? Well, if we look at the term cochinero to refer to the inhabitants of Ingenio, its meaning is closely related to the name itself, since the evolution of the Gran Canaria municipality was based on agriculture, with the raising of pigs being quite common. . Such is the importance of this animal in the history of the municipality that in its streets we can find various sculptures referring to it such as the Monument to the Cochinero or La Piara Cochinera, located on the entrance stairs to the municipality's church.

 

 

For its part, the social name of Agüimes does not have much mystery regarding its name, the term lizard was coined by the inhabitants of the municipality due to the reptile fauna present in the area, where canary, perenquenes or mullet lizards could be observed. As in Ingenio, Agüimes pays tribute to that name of “lagarteros” with some colorful figures of lizards that can be seen on the entrance road to the municipality.

 

 

Despite the sarcasm and the desire to "poke the neighbor", these names are further proof of the brotherhood that has united the Canarian people practically since its beginnings and that today is a characteristic feature of the archipelago.