RURAL GROUP, 29th of April, 2011

Today, we have visited the saltpans called Salinas de Tenefe. These saltpans were established at the end of the 18^th century in order to supply salt to the fishermen fishing near the African coast. Nowadays, they are the most important saltpans on the island and cover an area of approximately 20 000 m². The salt production is very efficient, so the outcome is 300 000 kg of salt per year. In 2005, Punta de Tenefe saltpans were declared cultural heritage and the visitor’s centre was founded. There visitors can get informed about the history, production and significance of the saltpans. Even though the salt production is quite high, the island is not self-sufficient and salt import is needed. In the afternoon, we have visited a tomato museum “La Zafra”. There, we could overview the whole production process and history of tomato. Tomato was one of the most important crops in Gran Canaria, however, recently the production of tomato has decreased.

RURAL GROUP, 28th of April, 2011

The rural group dedicated the second day of field work to diverse rural activities. Our first stop was banana plantations near the city of Vecindario. This settlement was created due to nearby banana plantations and indicates the importance of banana in the 19^th century. Secondly, we visited an agricultural cooperative in the municipality of Santa Lucia. It is a good example of marketed-oriented cooperative which is selling their variety of crops (peppers, watermelons, melons…) to supermarket Mercadona. They employ 14 workers, mainly foreigners, and are rentable only because of subventions.

Our next stop was the Institute for Agriculture investigation which has been founded recently. Their main subject of investigation is tomato. This centre has several researchers which are working under the contract. This institute deals with several projects. They are trying to find the best conditions in which to grow tomato. Moreover, parts of the fields are dedicated to ecological farming. One of the most important activities of this Institute is also the preservation of biodiversity. Basically, they are collecting and preserving seeds of traditional plants from local farmers from all over the island.

SOCIAL GROUP, 29th April 2011

Today we have been finishing our field work. We split in two groups, three of us went to Mogán old town, and other two went to Arguineguín. In Mogán we interviewed the director of Tahoma Club, a local association which also is the main social group on town. They are doing many activities from dancing parties to theater workshops. Probably the most important thing is we were told about integration of immigrants. They have some of them, from different countries (UK, Germany, Sweden, Danemark, Norway, Portugal, Morocco or Brazil), and what is more important, they are totally integrated. We were told how local people are more interested in them, in their culture, so that helps to complete a full integration in a diverse local society. Also, they are cooperating with other clubs, like Mogán Bonito –situated in Playa de Mogán- or the Norwegian club, in Arguineguín. It is this place where the other two of us went. We were talking with the Norwegian church priest, and it was really helpful to understand how they are organized. There is a whole community of Norwegians living in Arguineguín and places around, many of them due to climate conditions –and usually as a consequence of healthy problems-. They are owners of shops, bar and pubs, and are trying to integrate in local society. That, in turn, could be difficult, because they are so many that if they want to, they can live in their own, without mixing with local culture, for not saying some of them do not know the Spanish language. All of this is already helping us to make the final report and the further presentation which will be most likely tomorrow.