“Canarias nunca fue una colonia”. This is the reason why Vox rejected on Wednesday the Non-Legislative Proposal (PNL) from the Nationalist Group requesting the transfer of the Guanche mummy from Tenerife, displayed since 2015 at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, back to Tenerife.
The far-right party was indeed the only one to vote against this proposal put forward by Ana Oramas (CC) and which was supported by the rest of the political parties.
During his parliamentary appearance, Vox deputy Nicasio Galván stated that he is against this PNL because it talks about “overcoming the colonial framework”. “The idea that the Canary Islands is a colony is one of those historical errors that feed exclusive nationalisms, speaking of a past that never existed”, clarified Galván.
“The idea that the Canary Islands is a colony is one of those historical errors that feed exclusive nationalisms, speaking of a past that never existed”, clarified Galván.
The majority support for the PNL, presented by Ana Oramas in her first intervention in the Parliament of the Canary Islands in the last 26 years, becomes a new attempt by the Canarian administrations to try to get the central Government to return the remains of this Guanche that were looted over two centuries ago from Tenerife. Last month, for instance, the Tenerife Council announced again that it would request the return of the mummified remains of this Guanche to the Island.
The public institutions of the islands have also attempted the return of other dispersed mummies from around the world. They actually managed to have two Guanche mummies returned from Necochea (Argentina) and three from Madrid.
This Guanche mummy at the National Archaeological Museum, unique for its excellent state of preservation, comes from the Erques ravine, between the municipalities of Fasnia and Güímar, and it is believed to have belonged to the large sepulchral cave – known as the cave of a thousand mummies – where hundreds of mummies were found, according to the historian Viera y Clavijo (1772-1773), who dates the discovery between 1763 and 1764.
Thanks to a study carried out by the National Archaeological Museum, it is known that it was a male aged about 30 or 40 years old, 1.62 meters tall, with all of his teeth preserved and lived in Tenerife over 850 years ago. The mummy has been in Madrid since 1763 when it was presented to King Carlos III as a gift.
The replica of the Guanche mummy from Madrid found in the MUNA of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. / Andrés Gutiérrez
The monarch included it in his Cabinet of Natural History and later it passed through other private collections and museums until it reached the hands of Dr. Velasco, a physician, paleontologist, and taxidermist who subjected it to a treatment that would allow for its better preservation, as reported by the Efe agency.
During his speech, Nicasio Galván provided another reason why Vox rejected the repatriation of the mummy to Tenerife: “The National Archaeological Museum receives over 500,000 visitors a year and the centre where they want to bring these remains, the Museum of Nature and Archaeology in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, doesn’t even reach a sixth of that.”
“If we want to promote the Canarian pre-Hispanic culture, it is better that it remains in Madrid. In Vox, we consider Spain’s culture as a whole,” detailed the representative of this party.
Ana Oramas, in her appearance this Wednesday in the Parliament of the Canary Islands. / Andrés Gutiérrez
However, Nicasio Galván thanked Ana Oramas for proposing the return of the mummy because thanks to the CC deputy, “we know more about the pre-Hispanic culture of the Canary Islands.” He concluded by praising the interest in these remains of the islands’ first inhabitants: “It is a fascinating mummy. It is unique because it preserves all internal organs.”
