Family History
The trip that changed his life
Life and Love in the Canary Islands
A summer morning of 1969. Albacete, Spain
After doing the Spanish obligatory military service, when he was 24 years old, my grandfather left his hometown, Albacete, to work in a distance and so different place: The Canary Islands. The things he did not know was that this beautiful place would make him fall in love twice; first with the place: The Canary Islands, and a few years later, with the woman that would change his life completely.
A day of fall, 1969. Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
A naughty young woman was driving the dirt roads of the village with the car she stole from his father´s car dealership, when she was stopped by a tall and attractive policeman. The first thing that surprised her was his accent, he sounded like he was from central Spain. He ordered her to show her ID, and when he saw her age, he realized that she was not allowed to drive. She was 17 but the minimum of age to drive in Spain was 18. The policeman told her she could not drive but said he would forgive her this time. That is how my grandparents first met.
Village party of Charco del Pino, The Canary Islands.
My grandfather went to the San Luis Village Party, in Charco del Pino, to dance and talk with his job friends. He was in the bar when he saw a brunette girl dancing with her friends, and he decided to talk her. When he approached, she turned around. They knew they had met, but they did not remember when or where. After having a conversation, they began to dance in the middle of the town square.
June of 1936, La Esperanza, The Canary Islands
The future dictator of the country, Francisco Franco and his soldiers were eating steak in the mount of La Esperanza in the north of Tenerife before they sailed to Morocco. While in Morocco, Franco organized the coup of 17 of July, 1936 that would change the history of Spain. His laws changed the country drastically from a democracy to a fascist regime similar to the Nazis in Germany. Women did not have the right to go to college or have a job in the government; they had to stay at home to take care of the children and feed the men. There was even a book published called Guía de la buena esposa, or, “Guide of the good wife,” that collected the 11 keys to be a “good wife.”
April 15th, 1971. Valle de San Lorenzo, Tenerife
On April 15, 1971, my grandparents got married by the Catholic Church of San Lorenzo, where my grandmother had lived all her life. At this time, the only legal way to get married was through the Catholic Church. If you were not Catholic, the state would imprison you. The period of Franco was a period of suffering for a lot of people, but not for all. In this time, if you were akin to the fascist regime, you were happy, my grandparents were happy with Franco in the power, it sounds crazy, but is the reality. In this period, people were obligated to go to the church two times a week, if you did not go there, you could not opt to a position or job in the state, because the priest was the one who signed the paper you needed to have, to take a job place in the government.
May, 2003. Valle de San Lorenzo’s Pilgrimage
Every year in May, the Tenerife people celebrate the pilgrimage in the name of the Virgin of Carmen. The Canary pilgrimages are really peculiar, we usually start in the chapel or church with a religious mass, and after that we set of for the big walk, which is full of typical dances, canary folklore and of course, this walk is full of people dressed with the typical canary clothes. The Canary Islands pilgrimages are one of the most famous and important fest, along with the carnivals. One month later, Dacil, one of the Antonio´s daughters, was going to have a child called Agustin.
“It was so beautiful”
A Conversation with Antonio Leon Gonzalez
Saturday 15th, September, 2019. Valle de San Lorenzo, Tenerife.
I called my grandfather at 10:00 am, he was having lunch at a restaurant with my grandmother, they were really excited to see me, shouting and saying me good things. We were talking about how we can do the interview while we were also talking about the main point of the interview. We spent one hour looking for a way in which we could do the interview, but there was not any way. My grandfather realized of an idea, I sent him the questions, and my grandmother asked him the questions while they were recording it with my grandfather’s phone.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Antonio Leon Gonzalez and I was born in a village of Albacete called Villa Toya, it belongs to the community of Castilla la Mancha, but my parents were from Andalucia.
Have you ever lived in other country?
No, I have just lived in Spain, but I have lived I different parts of Spain.
When was the first time that you were to The Canary Islands?
The first time I went to The Canary Islands was because of job, I had just finished the traffic academy and I chose voluntarily going to The Canary Islands.
How was the trip? And what was the reason of the trip?
The trip was so beautiful, because I had never traveled on a ship, and we started the trip in a river, and we spent 3 days at the boat, that was called “El Plus Ultra,” and because I was young, I had a great time. The reason was the job, like I have just said you I finished the traffic academy, and because I had the second bests marks of my grade, I could choose, and I chose The Canary Islands to see something new.
What was your situation and yours family’s one at that moment?
So, it was good situation. We were a happy family of middle class and a Christian family. We were educated in this religion, a normal family.
What were you thinking about before you went in The Canary Islands?
I was really excited to see this new things; I was just thinking about it.
What was your first impression when you arrived at The Canary Islands?
It was so beautiful, because like I have just said you before, I came by boat, so the entrance was incredible, because the Santa Cruz of Tenerife bay is really awesome because you are arriving and you see the Anaga Mountain Range and the Spain Square, and it is awesome. In conclusion, there was a really good first impression.
What was the situation that Spain was experimenting at that moments?
For me there was a good one, Spain was a secure place… summarizing it was starting to highlight in Europe.
What do you know about Franco?
I know just about him, because I would not let the people to influence myself and I take the good things he did and the bad ones.
What do you think about his politic system, the fascism?
I do not like the fascism, I think it was not a fascist political system, there are people that think that it is. I have never wanted to think a lot about this topic.
What were the things that you liked about Franco? And the ones that you did not like?
There were not too much things that I liked but the one that I liked the most was that Spain was a really safe place and that there was not so much people without work. I do not like the dictatorship so his politic system was the worst in my opinion and all the things that this takes.
Were the people happy with Franco in the power?
I would say that 50% yes, 50% no. Basically, the people that preferred the right government, were happy with him, but the people that preferred the left government were really mad. Furthermore, there were a lot of groups of republican or communist people that rebelled against him, but they did not affected so much.
How was the moment when the notice of the Franco’s death came to the country?
I realized that he died while I was on service like a police officer, eating a serrano ham sandwich on a village called Vilaflor. I was in the bar, and the notice was retransmitted on the TV. I was not really surprised, I said to myself “rest in peace”. This moment was a boom for the country, a few months later the new government was going to be settled, after 38 years of his dictatorship.
Do you think that his death made Spain to come up and be a better country?
Yes of course, one of the worst things of Franco was that during his regime, there were not politic elections so it was not a democracy in which the people could vote in the elections.
Do you think that the Canary culture is really different as the Spanish one?
I think that it has not so many changes, but I think that it is really similar. If you say the Canary people that they are not Spanish, they will be mad of you.
What was your situation when you arrived at The Canary Islands?
It was a really good situation. I had job, I came where I want and the most important, I was really excited about be in a new place and see new things.
You fell in love in The Canary islands, please, could you tell us how did you met her?
Yes, I really felt in love, and the proof is that I have been here for 50 years…and when I met your grandmother, I had met her before but just I stopped her when she was driving his car illegally, but, the first time we really met was in the Charco del Pino’s square, in a town party. The first day, I did not dance with her, but after that, the crush arose and we finally felt in love.
When you met her, did you know that she was going to become the woman of your life?
Yes, since I saw her, I knew that she was going to become the woman of my life, she really impressed me.
Do you have children?
Yes, I have 5. The older is called Patricia she is an awesome woman… I just can say good things about my children, my three daughters are the most precious thing I have in this life. They were very good scholars, they were really mature when they went alone to Madrid, to study at the college and I am really proud of be their father. Their names are Patricia, Dacil, Aranxta, Antonio and Pedro. I am so proud of my sons also, they were not really good boys in their childhood and adolescence, but they are happy now, so I am happy too.
And what is about the Canary culture, can you talk us about it?
Yes of course, the Canary culture is not so different as the Southern Spanish, for example Andalucia, the people in this places are really natural, so kind and they are like more active than the northern people. There are differences, for example the folklore or the sports, here at The Canary Islands we have some sports that are just from here, like the Canary fight or the Canary ball.
Why did you stay at The Canary Islands?
Because I felt in love with this place and also with my current wife. Furthermore, I always feel good here. I made good relations with the people here and I could stay at Santa Cruz or something like this but no, I love this area, Valle de San Lorenzo.
How was the economy of the archipelago at that moment?
The tourism was starting to highlight, but at that moment was a mixture between tourism and the exportation of bananas and sugar.
Can you tell us about the tourism?
The tourism has been the principal economic source for more than 25 years, and I am not surprised about that, because it is a calm place, we have a perfect climate and more than this, being a small region we have 7 national parks, like Garajonay in La Gomera, or El Teide, that is the highest mountain of Spain or the National Park of Tinguafaya. We also have a lot of prehistoric plants, that have been here for more than 100 years… and that are the things that make The Canary Islands a beautiful place.
How was the increasing of the economy when the tourism came?
It was a boom but it had pros and cons, because it was a source of work for the most people here, but it also was an abandonment of the agriculture and this are so important. So, it made work, but it also had bad things which were that the most of the people was going to work there in the tourism.
Were there many tourists when you arrived at the island?
The tourism was starting, it started on the north or central coast and it expanded all around the south. The first touristic place was an hotel that a Swedish company built for their own use and after that, became an very important hotel. Furthermore, this hotel is now in “danger of extinction” because it is really old and the place where it is located, near of the coast, there have to be new and qualified hotels.
In which jobs have you worked during your life in The Canary Islands?
I have worked like a traffic policeman for my ten first years here and then the rest of my life like an administrator of the police department.
Which one of those is your favorite and why?
I prefer the policeman, because it was funnier and I was always seeing different things but I worked a lot and they gave me not enough money, instead, the other one was more boring but they paid me more and I worked less, so both works have pros and cons.
Can you tell us about the ancient people of The Canary Islands?
They came from Northwestern Africa, they were what is named “bereberes”. They were called “Guanches” and they were like all the other indigenous, they lived thanks to the crops and the cattle.
What do you think about the actions that the Catholic Kings did to them?
I think there were not bad actions, instead of the two principal battles that happened in the north of Tenerife. There was just an occupation, the Spanish people came here with their culture and they adapted to the islands.
In conclusion, are you proud of the things that this trip that you made firstly brought to your life?
Yes of course, you are one of the things because I am so proud of having the life I have…
Reflection Questions
How did your perception of community history change, from before the interview to now?
I think all the people have their story, it is so curious because it is like studiyng someones life, and imagine like a movie, so I think all the people have a movie that is their lives, and you have to be the director and the protagonist of that movie, at the same time. In the case of my grandfather, I think his life is a really interesting one, because of his trip to a place where he had never been and because of all the new things he experimented there.
How did this project inspire you to learn more about your family and community?
I think this project has inspired me a lot about knowing about tye past of my family, because I am realizing that because of all this histories I am talking about, I am here, writting this assignment. Thanks to this, I have learnt a lot of things about my past, I think it is an interesting asignment to do at the start of the year, because now, all the people in the classroom can know a little bit of the past of the people that have around.
What were some of the challenges you faced during this project? What could you do differently in your next oral history interview?
One of the challenges was to make the interview, because I did not find a good way to make it. Other one could be the language, it is not being easy to me to transcribe this interviews. I think other challenge for my grandparents could be to do the interview without crying or getting sad, because they are missing me a lot, furthermore, at the last question my grandfather started to cry.
If the roles were reversed and you became the tradition-bearer, what stories would you like to tell?
I would like to tell my academic historial, the interesting things about my life, like my soccer career and my trips. Also I would like a lot to talk about how is this year coming, because I am an exchange student and it is being incredible, but at the same time really difficult. Sometimes, I am feeling really homesick and the only thing I can do is to cry and talk with my family. I would like to talk about all of these experiences I am having.
