The Villa of La Orotava this Wednesday, November 24, 2021, paid tribute to the men and women who between 1979 and 2021 have been part of the municipal corporations of the current democratic stage, among whom were present key figures of villera politics such as the former mayor Isaac valencia, who held the position for 30 years; the exedil Juan Doniz, who was part of the municipal government for 36 years, or Isidoro Sanchez, villero de honor and mayor between 1979 and 1987, before continuing his long political career in Canarian institutions, the Senate or the European Parliament. This institutional recognition, promoted by the Don Victor Association and organized by the City Council, it emerged as a way to remember the last four decades of democratic municipalism.
The honorees were accessing the stage of the Teobaldo Power Auditorium in small groups of seven people, where they were received by the spokesmen of the current municipal groups and the secretary of the Town Hall. All received a commemorative medal for this act. The deceased councilors were also remembered, such as former mayor Francisco Sánchez or former popular councilor Enrique Luis, among others.
It was attended by members of the first village corporation of this stage, which was established in the spring of 1979, specifically on April 19, 42 years ago. One of the councilors of that first term was Isaac valencia, who would later become mayor in the terms of office 1983-1987, 1987-1991, 1991-1995, 1995-1999, 1999-2003, 2003-2007, 2007-2011 and between 2011 and 2013. It was in plenary session on October 29, 2013 when Valencia resigned to the benefit of Francisco Linares (CC), re-elected in 2015 and 2019.
Luis Hernandez Melo, another of the councilors of that first corporation with the Independent Association of La Orotava (AIO) and a member of the Don Víctor Association, intervened to recall the beginnings of «a new municipal policy, hand in hand with social and neighborhood movements that, from the top of La Orotava, they demanded equality and basic services such as access to electricity, running water or schools ”.
Francisco Linares thanked the Don Víctor Association for this memory to those who worked for the municipality from the town hall
The current mayor remarked that this act was conceived as “a celebration of democracy and freedom”, and highlighted the initiative of the Don Víctor Association to “honor those who worked to promote the arts of democracy, and wanting to extend it to all corporations that have also worked for the municipality.” Linares stressed that all the honorees “have contributed to having their own municipality of the XXI century, and always dedicated to public service and with the responsibility and trust that the neighbors have given us with their participation.”
