“The first potatoes were brought from Peru by Juan Bautista de Castro in the year 1622. This man had them planted in his lands of Icod el Alto from where they have so happily spread throughout the Canaries”, wrote José Antonio de Viera y Clavijo, the most illustrious realejero, in his Dictionary of Natural History of the Canary Islands in 1799. Words recalled yesterday by the first deputy mayor of Los Realejos, Adolfo González, to underline the heritage and gastronomic value of this product, of which there are more of 20 varieties although some have already been lost.
Due to this, the City Council and the La Papa Bonita Association are preparing an ambitious program of activities to celebrate the IV Centenary of the first planting throughout the coming year. The first preview was given yesterday with the presentation of the logo and the mascot that were designed exclusively for the anniversary. The first is the work of the designer Juan Antonio Martín Muñoz, while the second was created from the drawings of two girls from the municipality that were presented and later chosen by the Municipal Council for Children and Adolescents. Thus, ‘Bonita’ was born, the mascot created by Dara Díaz Rodríguez (from CEO La Pared) and Leire Herrera Martín (from CEIP Pérez Zamora), the first inspired by a teacher and the second, by a character from the Peppa Pig cartoon.
Both told the experience yesterday accompanied by Adolfo González, the Councilor for Rural Development, Alexis Hernández, and the representative of the aforementioned Association, Judith Delgado. In this context, some of the activities that will be developed in 2022 and that will cover all municipal areas and all sectors of the population were detailed.
Thus, it will work with the elderly to recover and disseminate old recipes, with cultural groups to organize an exhibition and specific days on this product, as well as a traveling exhibition through the streets in large format and with very clear and simple language from Participación Citizen
Likewise, all the actions related to the Tourism area, such as tapas routes or trails will go in this sense, just like the festivals, while the youngest will participate in a project in educational centers that will allow them to know step by step, from practice, the entire process of growing the pretty potato in the semester that lasts from planting to harvest.
