The Cabildo de Gran Canaria has presented an extensive program of events on the centenary of the death of the poet Tomás Morales, the start of modern Canarian poetry and one of the leading references of Spanish modernism. The Cabildo Gran Canaria does what it can and should do on the occasion of this anniversary. But in Tenerife there will be no talk of Tomás Morales. For the Tenerife authorities (more specifically for those responsible for cultural policies) Morales could be perfectly Greenlandic. On their island they will see to it that they pay due respect to him. If in general cultivating the memory of literary figures is not our strength – last year was the centenary of Isaac de Vega and the relatives found out – when the annoying nuisance happens, it is awarded to those of his town, as if it were a baptism or the slaughter of the pig. Tomás Morales has sufficient literary stature inside and outside the Canary Islands for the Vice-Ministry of Culture of the autonomous government to lead an anniversary that would spread throughout the seven islands in collaboration with councils and city councils. It has not been so. Juan Márquez does not have time: he is very busy distributing subsidies and his vaporous CEO is dedicated to narrating the subsidies he distributes.
The very weakened Canarian cultural industry has suffered intensely from the pandemic and its destructive social impact, but the political and economic reaction of the European Union has provided an exceptional opportunity. It has not been taken advantage of. The Canary Islands have not presented any project of a cultural nature with ambition and substance to attract resources from the extraordinary funds of the EU. «The intelligent strategy», argued Tony Ramos Murphy and Pau Rossell in a magnificent article almost a year ago, «involves contesting, with solid articulated proposals and contrasted data, the funds of the Next Generation program, React-EU and those derived from the Multiannual Financial Framework ». And that objective required “to articulate alliances and collaborations, develop compelling projects, and present cultural activities for what they are: the only competitive advantage that Europe can put on the global table.” The Canary Islands as a privileged space for a great cultural project mounted on a public-private consortium, with active support from all administrations and broad participation from local artists. Financial resources could be available right now. But we lack a sense of responsibility and opportunity, political will and technical rigor, ambition and conviction, a lucid cultural policy that deserves that name. If we ever succeed – in the next zombie apocalypse – Tomás Morales will finally not have been born in Moya or Gran Canaria, but in the whole of the Canary Islands and for all Canaries.
