Maspalomas schedules its first Km.2 Fair for March 3 and 0

 

The mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez Sánchez, and the Minister of the Primary Sector, Food Sovereignty and Water of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Miguel Hidalgo Sánchez, presented this Tuesday the Km.0 Gran Canaria Maspalomas Fair, which will be held on days March 2 and 3, from 09.00:14.00 a.m. to 3:XNUMX p.m., at football field No. XNUMX of the Ciudad Deportiva, next to the Parque Urbano del Sur. It is the first time that this traveling event is held in the municipality.

 

50 exhibitors will participate in the agri-food event, of which 16 are producers from this municipality, who "will display high-quality local products for sale, whose production has required a high percentage of love and work well done," said Marco Aurelio Pérez. , who explained that the Fair will be held in a large, accessible space with parking.

 

 

The local producers that will participate in the Km.0 Fair are the La Gloria, La Chalupa, Amurga and El Draguillo cheese factories; the El Tiempo del Sur and Las Tirajanas wineries; the fruit and vegetable producers Biosol, El Sabor del Sol, Ángel Suárez Rodríguez and Kerstin Moller; Fataga Nurseries (plants and flowers); the Cositas Dulces confectionery; the Ñoss company that produces products with goat milk; the Pauleta Canarias ice cream parlor; the bakery-pastry shop Casa Edelhof Bio, and Cafetales Maspalomas. The event will be entertained by the Asentaos y Tumbaos Folkloric Group and the Parranda Los Chanos, among others.

 

In the presentation, Councilor Miguel Hidalgo thanked the mayor and the City Council for their involvement in supporting and promoting the agricultural and livestock sector, and also for “the continuous work, collaboration and contribution to the improvement of the primary sector of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana during many years, of the municipal agricultural technician Juan Carlos Gómez,” he said.

 

Unlawful competition

 

Regarding the Km.0 fairs, the counselor highlighted their importance as a showcase to prestige the quality and excellence of local products compared to those that are being imported, "which compete unfairly with those that we are capable of producing in our land, because they are produced in phytosanitary conditions very different from those required of our farmers and ranchers, and because they are produced in truly miserable conditions that have nothing to do with those required in our archipelago. “These products do terrible damage to our production,” said Hidalgo.

 

The island councilor also reviewed the “excellent and particular” products obtained in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, among which he highlighted “the apricots, which are a reference in marketing on the island of Gran Canaria; the excellent wines, with new and unique proposals for sparkling wines; the unique goat cheeses from arid areas, which have international fame and recognition; coffee and many other products,” he said. 

 

Hidalgo Sánchez and Marco Aurelio Pérez invited local participation in the Fair and to buy km.0 products “because we help the women and men of the countryside, and we help the rural world and the mosaic landscape of the midlands and peaks of Gran Canaria, which are also magnificent firewalls against fires,” said the counselor.

 

The water problem

 

Questioned by a sleeve producer in Lomo Los Azules about the problem of water for irrigation, Hidalgo revealed that the Insular Water Council annually sends more than one million cubic meters of water for irrigation to the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. “The Tirajana basin is undoubtedly the one that has been suffering the most from drought problems for many years now.” Furthermore, he said, “we have had a winter in which we have had more supply and demand for water than in the summer months themselves, due to the heat and the haze days that require more frequent watering, and the months that should have been collection are being of supply.” In this regard, he stated that the corresponding allocations are being given to each of the irrigation communities in a rigorous manner. “The solution for the upper part of San Bartolomé and Mogán will be the Salto de Chira. The works are advanced and we hope that before the end of the year we can have guaranteed water regardless of the rain, which is irreplaceable and that we cannot solve with industrial water,” he said.

 

Data of interest

 

The municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana is the one with the largest number of carp cattle on the island of Gran Canaria, and the third in the Canary Islands. The municipality has seven cheese factories with health registration, and the cheeses made here have been awarded annually at an international level.

 

The wine sector in San Bartolomé de Tirajana occupies about 20 hectares of vineyards intended for wine production. There are three wineries registered with the Regulatory Council of the Denomination of Origin of Gran Canaria: Las Tirajanas, Tunte and Tamerán, whose wines have also received numerous awards and recognitions, including at an international level.

 

Regarding the olive sector, San Bartolomé de Tirajana is one of the municipalities on the Island with the most olive trees planted, about 12.000 according to the last census in 2013. The Aceitunas de Tirajana brand is located in the municipality, which produces olives packaged with mojo.

 

Apricot cultivation and production occupies about 20 hectares in the Medianías area (Hoya Grande, Tunte, Fataga...), this municipality being the largest apricot producer in the entire Canary Islands.

 

About 40 honey producers with about 1.000 hives are registered in beekeeping. Other products are also produced such as chilli, goat's milk liquor, coffee and products made from aloe vera, with a very popular farm on the way up to Fataga.

 

The municipality is also a producer of mangoes, with great importance in the lower area; of other fruits such as bananas, passion fruit, tropical pineapple, plums, prickly pears, dragon fruit and blueberries, and vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes and peppers mainly.