He City Hall of The Gran Canarian palms deeply regrets the death of film exhibitor and distributor Francisco Melo Sansó, who was honored as Favorite Son of the palms of Gran Canaria in 2009.
Mayor Augusto Hidalgo has shown its most sincere condolences and support to the family, friends and relatives, on behalf of the entire municipal Corporation, after confirming the news of his death at the age of 94.
Melo Sanso stood out in the 70s as the main introducer in Canary Islands of independent films. It should be noted that in Venezuela, where he spent 16 years of his life, he held management positions at the North American multinational Columbia, becoming the youngest Colombian manager in the world at the age of 28.
Once he returned to the Canary Islands, he bought single-screen cinemas as well as opening multiplexes, both in the company of partners and alone, which have been benchmarks in our Archipelago, such as Galaxy’s (1985) and Monopol (1998), both in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and Aguere (1989), in La Laguna, and Price (1990), in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
His important curriculum and professional legacy allowed him to put a special finishing touch on his career with his appointment as Favorite Son of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2009, at which time he turned 80 and in which he was still active, undertaking new initiatives as a benchmark of the development of cinematographic culture in the Islands in the last four decades.