News

"Terrae is a confirmation of who we are as Canarians"

Sandra Hernández

The auditorium of the Teatro Consistorial de Gáldar opened an interesting day of presentations that highlighted the richness of the Gran Canaria territory.

The first lieutenant of Gáldar Town Council, Julio Matero, opened the event by thanking Terrae for the opportunity to promote "our important fruit and vegetable production". A large part of the thousands of kilos of bananas from the Canary Islands that go to all of Europe come from our banana plantations," he said. The same goes for the cultivation of tomatoes or cheese, "which is produced in our central areas thanks to transhumance, which is still alive". This is why he believes it is important that, through events such as Terrae, "we give value to all our traditions and at the same time share new perspectives so that we can continue to develop our small industries and preserve them for the future, so that young people can continue to rely on them", he concluded.

Juan Manuel Gabella, the Island's Director of Industry and Commerce, echoed these sentiments, describing the development of Terrae as the culmination of the work that the Cabildo began eight years ago as part of the 'Gran Canarias me gusta' programme, "convinced of the need to promote local products in order to stimulate the economy and the producers, encouraging them to produce more and better. In the process, we have seen that the kitchens are also an element in the marketing of Canary Islands products, so we have started working with chefs, training them and going out with them to promote our cuisine abroad".

Convinced that "things happen and things change" when public administration and the private sector work hand in hand and in the same direction, he thanked Vocento Gastronomía for its participation in the development of Terrae, a congress "that sums up our absolute and exquisite respect for our heritage, which cannot be understood without the tradition of agriculture, livestock and fishing, our origins. For us, Terrae is a conviction, a confirmation of who we are, of our history, of where our parents and grandparents came from".