"Who knows how many historians from the south of Gran Canaria have emerged thanks to their curiosity, that is the legacy," said this Wednesday a history professor at the University of Las Palmas (ULPGC). By leaving this world at the moment he did, Rafael González, Feluco, gave one last blow to an era that he had come to enjoy due to the digital dissemination of his stories. His friend, Cristo González, on Radio Dunas, could not get over his grief this Wednesday over the death of the writer from Tirajana so abruptly when he had been moments before in his studios at the station talking about Canarian culture, passion of him. To be dead you only have to be alive.
"We are going to miss Feluco for many things, but first for that contagious smile he had when he spoke and made some of his jokes," said this Wednesday the mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez, who remembers: " "He was a helpful man and all his time outside of work was dedicated to rescuing the customs of our land. You have to call him a great customs expert." In Las Lagunas people still don't believe it. Pain has flooded all of Tirajana.
In the cultural world of southern Gran Canaria and in the schools of the region, few people have been as known and celebrated as Feluco. His columns in various media seemed to recreate the genre, taking it out of its academic strongholds, kicking its well-fed foundation and presenting it to a reading public that would not normally have the habit of reading Canarian culture with devotion.
Feluco wove his observations about the world with acidic wit, often steeped in Tunte street slang. While others were giving their sculpted thoughts about a new exhibition or local politics, he kept things straight. This had a dual purpose: it brought even the loftiest issues into the street, and it demonstrated that such issues could be the subject of intense and informed debate by people who were not normally considered capable of forming such opinions by those whom They ran the media or in schools.
"He transcribed the oral tradition and told the anecdotes and things about what our ancestors did," recalled the Councilor for Culture, Elena Álamo. "He was the historian about whom no one has told his story," said Alejandro Marichal, first deputy mayor, who highlighted that he was a "searcher of anecdotes and disseminator, he was always passionate about Tirajana history."
In La Palmas they were always impressed by his ingenuity and style. His wit and intriguing insights always made his columns required reading. Tunte and the soul of Tirajana were reflected in them. Feluco loved the camaraderie with his compatriots from Tunte. He did not consider anyone to be a stranger, so when he wrote he did not do so with the authority of governments, but with that which came from citizens. Because what inspired much of his work: generous and eloquent, daring and risky.
