San Bartolomé de Tirajana recovers the sculpture of the water feature in homage to Columbus's stopover in Maspalomas

 

As a commemorative act for World Heritage Day, which will take place this Sunday, the mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Marco Aurelio Pérez Sánchez, reopened this Friday the sculpture 'Water and Firewood' by the sculptor Máximo Riol Cimas, next to the Maspalomas Pond, which has undergone a restoration process by the Department of Culture and Historical Heritage.

 

The piece, commemorating the fifth centenary of Christopher Columbus's stopover in Maspalomas to replenish his water and wood supplies on his fourth and final voyage to America in 1.502, suffered vandalism after its inauguration in 2002, with significant damage that completely distorted its artistic concept.

 

The recovered artwork reflects the historical importance for Maspalomas of the admiral's stopover on May 24, 1.502, to replenish his supplies of fresh water and firewood for the long voyage, as recounted in the diaries of the discoverer's own son, Hernando Colón. It is a realistic bronze sculpture affixed to a large basalt rock, consisting of three barrels and seven tamarisk branches crafted with remarkable precision and skill. In the 2020 attack and theft reported by the artist himself, the sculpture lost two of the three barrels from the original piece.

 

 

The restoration work promoted by the Department of Heritage, headed by Deputy Mayor Elena Álamo Vega, has allowed for the recovery of this emblematic piece dedicated to a historical event involving Maspalomas in Columbus's voyage. The work was carried out in the sculpture foundry of Antonio Higinio Rodríguez Sosa, following the artist's own instructions and with the utmost respect for the integrity and original spirit of his work.

 

Marco Aurelio Pérez highlighted the “exact reconstruction” of the vandalized Riol sculpture, placed back in its original location for passersby to contemplate and enjoy. “Our municipality has an abundant and rich heritage that we must preserve for the present and for future generations. It is very important that society participates in its preservation, because when a sculpture, a book, a library, or any heritage item is vandalized, we are breaking our culture and the link between the past and the future. We must all be aware that we have to take care of our heritage so that it endures and is available to those who come after us. Help us preserve our heritage,” the mayor urged.

 

Idea by Néstor Álamo

 

At this event, where the sculptor's forced absence due to health reasons was apologized for, the Favorite Son of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Pedro Franco López, recalled that the commemorative sculpture arose from "a challenge" from the author of 'Maspalomas and you', Néstor Álamo, to the former mayor Francisco Araña del Toro in 1981, within the framework of the gala-concert that was offered in the Charca de Maspalomas on the occasion of the closing of the 'Canarian Take Care of Your Beaches' campaign promoted at the island level by Gregorio Toledo Rodríguez, then Minister of Health and Social Security of the Junta de Canarias.

 

Franco López recalled that Néstor Álamo rejected the idea of ​​the commemorative monument at Columbus's watering place in Maspalomas being "just a figurine," because, in addition to its high cost, "it would trivialize the event." "It wasn't about honoring the man, the admiral, but about celebrating the historical milestone," he added. The Favorite Son also recalled the inscription that Néstor Álamo proposed for the plaque: "From this place Columbus departed on his last voyage to the new islands of the Canary Islands, on May 25, 1.502," as it currently appears. According to Franco López, for Néstor, Columbus's watering place "was a historical landmark that San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Maspalomas could not ignore."

 

In this regard, Franco López warned in his speech that “it is in our hands, and it is up to us to write the history of our people, to let our citizens, our future generations and the tourists who visit us know, that this piece of land we stand on was the last Spanish territory that Christopher Columbus set foot on in his fourth and final voyage to America.”