When did you start in the world of murgas?
My beginnings date back to Melindrosos, when I began my murguera career in 2004 and finished this stage as president of the afilarmónica in 2018. The next edition I am going out with Trapasones, with which I participated in 2019 and 2020. In total I have 18 years as a murguero .
Why close the cycle in Melindrosos to go to Trapaseros?
I decide to close the cycle in Melindrosos, firstly, due to personal wear and tear as a murguero, and perhaps due to discrepancies in the final stage and you get tired. It was no dispute or fight because we finished very well. Note that as a businessman, even being in Trapaseros, he collaborated with advertising in the scripts of Melindrosos.
How do you get to Picky?
It is a story that marks my life because, in addition to being beautiful, it is tragic. My best friend, finishing her Bachelor of Arts, is interested in the female murga Las Melindiosas and she gave me the bug. That summer we began to deal with them and we went to her barbecue and I with the male one. Unfortunately that same summer, in August, my friend died and I continued, and I also abandoned my Journalism degree in Tenerife.
Why are you going to Trapasones?
It is a murga that was close to my company and had a more fluid contact and relationship than with other groups. Besides, she has been in a relationship for many years. When I enter Melindrosos, Junior Alonso directs the Melindiosas. He came from Totorotas and Trapasones are born. There is a certain friendship for decades. To this is added that they are interested in one, which is also interesting. Carnival goes in blood as much as you want.
«The disqualification of Chancletas in 2020 was a scandal at the farewell of maestro Tito Rosales»
But when he gets to Trapasones, Junior is no longer there.
No, it coincides with Samuel’s stage at the helm and Xerach Casanova was already harmonizing. It is a totally different style than the one known with Junior in Trapasones. The change also influences a lot and also caught my attention.
But Picky and Trapaseros are different styles…
Yes, totally. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Perhaps the style now of Trapasones.
Is there a Carnival tradition at home?
It comes to me from the cradle. My uncle Miguel Ángel González was the president of the Jaguaribe comparsa and of great old comparsas. Apart from that, he was also president of Figruc when then it grouped comparsas and murgas, unlike what happens today, which includes only critical groups.
After the parenthesis due to covid in 2021, the contest returns, where in the last edition Flip Flops were disqualified for removing the director’s hat.
It was a great palace and unfortunately we couldn’t do much because in front of that park, when all the groups parade, there is a person appointed by the Promotion Society who ensures that the rules are met and, furthermore, it is something that was requested unanimously in one of the assemblies that we celebrate. It was a scandal and unfortunately it coincided with a year that should have been totally different.
What was a scandal?
That this happened and that the dismissal of an entire teacher (Tito Rosales, as director of Chancletas) was involved in the disqualification, and it was not the only case, because something similar also affected Alborotados, who was also disqualified. It is certainly not the contest to retire after 40 years.
How do you face this year’s contest? Are we facing a contest with half table murgas, due to the absence of the big ones?
It will be a different Carnival. Obviously, there are less than half of the active murgas that should have come out if this pandemic does not hit us. That they are more or less known I do not think it affects. Those who have worked hard have done so in record time. With the enthusiasm with which they have done it, I am sure that they will all put on a maximum show, each one within their idiosyncrasies.
Will he have the same knowledge to win the first one without the participation of Nietos, Serenques or Legañosos?
The League is still the League even if Madrid or Barça are in the second division. Winning a murgas contest in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is not easy. It is a competition that you have to prepare and you have to have respect for everyone.
How does the murga Gambusinos from Fuerteventura get to the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2022 contest?
Gambusinos became interested in the contest last summer.
Is it the first murga to participate from outside Gran Canaria?
Gambusinos is the first group from outside Gran Canaria, but it is not the first to try it; it’s already the second.
And who was the previous one who tried it?
Los Trapaseros, from Los Realejos, Tenerife, in 2015 or 2016. It was a long time ago, and I thought the idea was great, even though it never materialized.
The chirimurgas break into the official program. Is the chirimurga the future of the murga?
You ask someone who has no idea. I am not a follower, not even a chirigota; I am a purer Canarian-style murguero. It is true that this year there are four groups. It is a much more professionalized sector than the murgas that have already performed during the year in theaters. I don’t know what awaits us and if it will have the success of the drags.
Is it the death of the murgas?
No. Murgas have been evolving for many years. We have been greatly limited by the restrictions of Carnival itself regarding the use of the spaces and the elements that have been unlocked since last year and that have allowed everything to evolve a little more. The murga world must continue to evolve, in a trajectory very oriented towards shows, theater, singing, denouncing and humor. The chirimurgas are a different claim to the murgas.
“The murgas must continue to evolve, the chirimurgas are a different claim”
Don’t the murgas have to be afraid of him?
No, what we have to be clear about is that they are a different claim, a variant. The murgas cannot stop in the development and evolution of the groups, especially in taking care of the quarry which, unlike Tenerife, has cost us a little more.
But the ‘Cadiz effect’ is not new in Gran Canaria.
In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria there are many followers of the Cadiz groups, it is not a new influence, apart from the fact that I personally identify more with the traditional murga.
It represents the groups being a component of Trapasones, a murga that does not go out.
Personally, I am a ‘sick’ Carnival. I would have gone out. In the personal aspect it has been very good for me to dedicate myself to my business. In any case, I accept the decision of my group and looking forward to the return of the next Carnival.
