«I am a candlestick maker and I am happy to be able to fly to my Island». The phrase has an impact among the many media outlets at Tenerife Sur airport because it is pronounced by a big blond man with blue eyes and a uniform like his nine crewmates –six men and three women– who have starred in the first flight of United Airlines Come in New York and Tenerife. Jarl Huagedal, that is his name, is the best ambassador of our Island.
The protagonist explains the origin of everything: «My father worked on a ship –as a good Norwegian– and one day he arrived in Gran Canaria with my mother, who is from the United States». Jarl, the crew member in charge of speaking Spanish with the passengers, adds: «Someone recommended Tenerife and they came to settle in Puertito de Güímar». Without children, although later Jarl and his brother were born in Norway, but always with their sights set on Tenerife. They couldn’t buy a house in their beloved Puertito, “but they could in Candelaria, where I live.” They never left “and that’s where I come from,” he stresses.
He is moved to remember his father, who died last October, who could not fulfill this dream of “seeing me fly to the Island”. But his mother did not want him to miss it and she is going to accompany him today on his way back to New York, and this “does come true.” Today (yesterday for the reader) he fills his pantry with Canarian food “that I love” and enjoys his house for a few hours. He is very well, but the true value of Jarl is that he has become the best ambassador in the land of him.
During the first flight, in which he almost came to tears when Teide appeared on the horizon, he spread the benefits of Tenerife among the passengers. On the back of the official brochure he pointed out the best possible visits to the Island and it was so successful that the passengers did not tire of taking photos. She was a guide before and knows the color. From Taganana to El Médano and from Puerto de la Cruz to Las Américas. Up to fifteen points drawn with which he achieved success. The passage curiously asked, during the night, “especially in terms of security and my experiences.”
Jarl is ours and as a native he sells the Island but, above all, the flight to New York: «It is a charming city, very safe and where they will not have the slightest problem if they speak Spanish. Come because the offer is great. He knows that it is difficult to move outside our Islands, but we have to work on it. He advertises it: “It’s good to connect with Latin America, with Los Angeles or with other destinations.” He discovers that 30% of the passengers on the maiden voyage were New Yorkers and the rest from other points in the United States: Denver, San Francisco or Chicago.
The Norwegian from Candelaria talks about stories like that of a woman of Cuban origin that «it took sixty years without returning. Very strong”. He alludes to his 24-hour life: «From my apartment in New York at seven in the evening to my house in Tenerife at seven in the evening the next day. Incredible”. An Anglo-Saxon would say amazing.
Jarl reveals that “I started crying because I couldn’t hold back my emotions.” When he heard the welcome to Tenerife “it was tremendous.” He is not satisfied with four months because «I don’t want to fly to Madrid or Barcelona again, but to my beloved Tenerife. And to all the Canary Islands. He believes that “we must raise awareness and publicize.”
Jarl has four nationalities and wears the flags on his lapel: «Canary Islands, Norway, United States and Spain». With pride.
