The south of Gran Canaria is now rich but there was a time when the best thing was to escape and not long ago
The south of Gran Canaria is now rich but there was a time when the best thing was to escape and not so long ago. The data available in the Royal Court on food problems is terrible. The data from the parish of San Bartolomé de Tirajana from January 1 to April 12, on March 6, 1847, mentions the case of 156 people who died due to lack of food derived from yellow fever, a data that contrasts with the 13 people who have died in Tirajana from Covid19, 1,2% of the cases.
In the case of the dead, it is attributed to hunger. It was due to the absence of rain and harvest. That is to say: of 740 deaths from hunger on the island, 156 were in San Bartolomé de Tirajana. 359 died in Telde and 344 in Las Palmas capital. That is to say: due to the effect of the epidemic. At that time the Church asked to take religious images to the streets and prohibited agricultural production from being exported. And what was done? Well, after preventing the export of potatoes, the economy weighed more on health. In the report on the medical situation of Gran Canaria on December 21, 1846, it is noted that "hundreds of poor beggars who wander the streets and sleep in them, exposed to the elements, naked, hungry and lacking the most basic necessities" . Dr. Gregorio Chil points out at that time that "however at the end of December the cases were rare and little was said about it and much was said about the misery that existed in the country and the hunger that was beginning to appear with its horrible circumstances."
It was from January 1847 onwards that "the frightful state of misery in which this population finds itself, in which some individuals have already perished from hunger" became official and "the lack of funds to deal with it and the difficulty of obtaining them" was denounced. , due to general poverty due to the economic situation and excess revenue. If in 2021 the IGIC is zero rate for health products and in 2020 ICO credits appeared, in 1847 a moratorium on the payment of taxes was agreed. The absence of cereals generated speculation and Dr. Gregorio Chil says that "many wanted to build their fortune on public misery" and "they produced riots" while "the prison was packed with prisoners, who, harassed by hunger, had dedicated themselves to stealing." ". The City Council even decreed that bakers who, having wheat, refused to knead dough would be deprived of their trade and their oven would collapse.