José María de Villa Martínez (Galdames, Vizcaya, 1758–Santa Cruz de Tenerife1833), navy captain who had arrived at the Port of Santa Cruz on several occasions until, in 1793, he settled here when he married Agustina de Herrera Cabrera, a native of Pájara, Fuerteventura, dedicating himself to commerce and being a deputy of the City Council. .
During the Deed of July 25, 1797, he would actively intervene in the Rondas Plan – a Civil Protection system designed in the event of an invasion – and would be one of the signatories of the minutes of the popular meeting, held in the church of El Pilar, where The Holy Cross and the Apostle Santiago were acclaimed companions of this Town, since on their name day the victory over the English had been achieved.
When he was appointed royal mayor in 1799, in order to carry out the necessary works and improvements, he had to ask wealthy neighbors for money given the lack of municipal funds.
On August 28, 1803, upon the arrival of the Royal Decree issued by Charles IV in Aranjuez, Madrid, in which Santa Cruz was granted the privilege of Villa Exenta, with its own jurisdiction, the titles of Noble Invicta and Leal, and the Coat of Arms, the first disposition taken by the mayor of the Island of Tenerife, Matías López Lago, was to call elections to elect mayor and his first municipal Corporation. In the aforementioned year, Santa Cruz was assigned 6,889 inhabitants.
The elections, held on November 27 and 28, had to be held in the chapel of the Hospital de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados (Civil Hospital), as the Blessed Sacrament was displayed in the Pilar church.
The elected mayor, José María de Villa, was given the baton of command on December 7, 1803, in a solemn ceremony held in the main church of La Concepción, under the presidency of the commanding general Marquis of Casa-Cagigal and the commissioner royal Matías López Lago, after swearing to “uphold the privileges and graces that His Majesty has granted to this exempt Villa, administer justice not only ex officio but at the request of parties, dispensing without bringing rights to the poor, and keeping secret of things and cases that require it.
For the occasion, the mayor wore a light violet jacket, with a very high collar and narrow sleeves; very pale yellow vest, with mother-of-pearl buttons; slim-fit trousers, a powdered poncho and silk tie, a hat with white hair, spyglasses and a bamboo cane with a tassel, all given by Don Prudencio, a rich Indian from Caleta Street. At the end of the religious function there was music, extraordinary lighting and a reception at the mayor’s house.
At the event he was accompanied by the Municipal Corporation, made up of deputies Víctor Monjui, Francisco Seicher, Félix Riverol and Pedro Álvarez, as well as the representative trustee Juan Anrán de Prado and the mayor Enrique Casalón. Of them, José Desiré Dugour said: “Such popular names or names with a more upright reputation could not have come out of the urn, because with the zeal that characterized them and their correct measures, the honor of the high destinies of this population must be attributed to them.” full of movement and life.
The official act of demarcating the municipal area would take place the following day, in a ceremony held on the banks of the Hierro ravine, with the commissioners of Santa Cruz and La Laguna present. The expenses of the inauguration were excessive for the time, since procedures had to be carried out in Madrid, the flag and coat of arms had to be made, the holy mass celebrated, etc. Due to the lack of funds, a subscription had to be made among the neighbors.
During his mandate, the mayor would approve the works plan for the new cave, which would be built next to the mouth of the Oil Ravine; the conduction of water within the Villa, using for the first time glazed clay pipes that were brought from Seville, etc.
He divided the town into six barracks (districts), placing a councilor in charge of each one. He ordered that the bodies be taken to the cemetery covered with a black cloth, provided by the City Council, etc.
He published a statement of good government, ordering the cleansing of the population; prohibiting men and women from bathing in the sea at the same time, establishing schedules for both sexes, etc.
José María de Villa Martínez would be elected mayor again in the years 1811 and 1814. In these terms he would have to face the problem of deforestation of the mountains in the jurisdiction of Santa Cruz, due to the clandestine extraction of wood that was carried out for Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. He intervened in a dispute between the cattle dealers and the washerwomen who used the waters of the Santos ravine, since it was an ancient custom for the cattle to drink in the puddles. He would manage to finish the works on the San Rafael and San Roque cemetery, which he had started in 1811, due to the yellow fever epidemic.
In 1813, as the municipal sessions were held in their private homes, the municipal councilors considered that they should have a Town Hall, renting a home in the Plaza de la Constitución – today Candelaria –, on the corner of San Juan Street. Francisco with that of the Castle. In order to pay the 20 pesos a month rent, given the exhausted municipal coffers, they had to rent rooms from the Provincial Council, the Royal Consulate of Commerce, the Health Board and the political superior.
When at the end of his last term, José María de Villa presented the settlement of the City Council’s accounts, the Corporation congratulated him, recording in the minutes the zeal and diligence that he had observed in all his duties as mayor for so many years.
Although he was buried in the San Rafael and San Roque cemetery, where the tomb is located, his remains rest in the Panteón de Tinerfeños Ilustres in the Santa Lastenia cemetery.
