It is almost impossible to imagine what Canary Islands was like with about 300,000 inhabitants a hundred years ago. Amidst the debate on carrying capacity and the need for a model change to adapt to a completely different reality, with over two million residents, I go back to the late 19th century to recreate the story of an enterprising man who successfully transformed the city model that the municipality of La Orotava was at that time, turning it into a significant trading hub in the north of the island.
During the years when Casiano García Feo began his studies in commerce in Santa Cruz, moving from Granadilla was quite challenging. To do so, he had to take a ship from El Médano, but his family was convinced that this was the best option to maintain and even expand their family business in the south of the island. It was in the capital where he began his education. Even from a young age, he stood out among the other students. There, he befriended the son of businessman Fernández del Castillo, the owner of Almacenes El Globo, who soon noticed his potential and named him, at just twenty years old, first as manager and later as partner, of a new store on Tomás Zerolo Street in La Orotava, where today his great-grandson Jesús Hernández García continues the commercial tradition.
Casiano García’s portrait / Marta Casanova
That was the beginning of a love story between Casiano and La Orotava that would culminate in an indissoluble marriage with his chosen municipality. This forward-thinking commercial vision led him to sign an agreement with his partner to become the sole owner of that first store where mainly agricultural products were sold, as agriculture was the predominant activity in those years. The income generated allowed him to increase his wealth with agricultural ventures in the Durazno area, Los Orovales, and a significant part of the urban nucleus of La Orotava, becoming a driving force behind the architectural development of the municipality around the Plaza de la Constitución. In 1924, Casiano constructed two buildings near the Kiosko square and later, in the sixties, the bridge was erected. Following his death, between 1973 and 1975, the entire expansion with the commercial premises we know today took place.
The former Orotava cinema, now the Teobaldo Power Hall, was one of his undertakings. Despite other proposals recommending its installation in Puerto De la Cruz, his perseverance made the construction possible on a site where in the 18th century stood the old “Casa Curras”. The architect of this building, known for having one of the best acoustic conditions in the Canary Islands, was Marrero Regalado, also from Granadilla, with important buildings on the island such as the Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África, the Casa Cuna, the basilica of the Virgen de Candelaria, and the Tenerife Island Council, among others. In terms of its facilities, it was innovative for its time, featuring a projection system unique in Spain, imported from the United States, and a capacity for 1,200 spectators.
The Orotava Cinema. / El Día
During the years when he embarked on the challenging process of obtaining water through galleries deep in the earth, he founded and presided over many communities. This interest led him to promote studies on water sources in the Valle de La Orotava, carried out by the eminent Spanish geologist Lucas Fernández Navarro whom he invited to the island in 1924 to analyze this collection system. Years later, in 1926, an International Geological Congress was held in Madrid, and as a finale, the attendees travelled to Tenerife because both Tenerife and Gran Canaria have rock types and magmatic formations known worldwide. One of the primary examples is the sismite, which can only be found in El Medano and Costa Rica. During the visit to Teide, Casiano acted as a host.
He also presided over the Agricultural Union of Northern Tenerife, the FAST, an organization created due to the dire situation of Canarian agriculture during the world war, which led some landowners in the Valle de la Orotava to establish this union and handle the banana exports themselves. He also served on the Island Council, where he was president for a few days, between November 5 and 23, 1936, the year of the outbreak of the Civil War.
One of his granddaughters, Ana Rosa Garcia, remembers her grandfather, who passed away in 1960, as an honest and upright man, who not only focused on increasing his wealth but also helped many of the residents of La Orotava to start businesses, sharing his knowledge to boost the commercial growth of the municipality without expecting anything in return. “Buying goods wisely is already halfway to selling them,” is one of his favourite phrases that Ana Rosa still remembers because “my grandfather insisted that to start a business, one must know how to invest and what merchandise to purchase.” And to know, one must educate themselves, hence his emphasis on academic training and preparedness. Two of his six children, Casiano and José, studied commercial sciences in London because he believed that the English were the best in commerce while another of his children.
An advertisement for the Altavista shelter, on Teide, with Casiano García as administrator / El Día
Upon their return, they joined the family business and managed to expand it, eventually becoming wholesalers. The family business evolved over decades and, from 1978 onwards, it became Tejidos García Feo, which was led by his grandson César Esteban Hernández, and is now run by a great-grandson, César Hernández Llopis. Another of his sons, Inocencio, studied agriculture in France. As a curious fact that reflects the way of life of that era, Casiano contributed to his marriage to Maria Teresa Torrens, from Puerto, a total of 21 estates, and when she fell ill with pernicious anaemia, he bought, for half a peseta per square metre, an 11,000 square metre plot in Las Cañadas del Teide. He immersed himself in the culture of his adopted municipality and helped promote traditional festivals such as the Romería de San Isidro, where he was named Honorary Chief Pilgrim for his contribution to the development of this celebration.
From the vault of memories, Ana Rosa shows me a brochure where he is named as the administrator of the Altavista refuge, but what is most interesting and relevant today is the instruction given to tourists along with the rates for staying there: “Tourists are kindly requested to take the greatest interest in the preservation and cleanliness of the Refuge, reporting any faults they notice to the administrator, Mr. Casiano Garcia Feo, for correction, if possible.” But no “Tourist go home”. History is filled with individuals, sometimes anonymous, whose achievements remind us that we should not only demand good administrators and politicians to manage, but a prosperous society with entrepreneurial individuals who strive to improve themselves and their environment, with initiative, courage, and love for the land. It is worth remembering them from time to time so as not to lose our way.
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