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THE END
OF EL JABLITO
Once a quiet little fishing village, El Jablito is now being
reduced to rubble to make way for the biggest harbour in the
Canary Islands.
Whilst this is progress the people who live there are watching
their history being torn apart.
Bulldozers turned up midday on Thursday 14th June 07 without
notice on the day and proceeded to plough through the houses,
16 in total were flattened to the ground including their
personal effects; beds, fridges, cookers and appliances were
buried under the remains of their houses.
After about an hour the
Police arrived and were immediately surrounded by protesting
residents and relatives who were helping to salvage their
belongings.
When the police had gone I was invited into some of the
remaining houses where residual damage had been caused by the
Demolition.
They were small cosy houses grouped together with a narrow
little street between them; the walls were covered with
memorabilia, fishing rods and family pictures everywhere I
looked. In one house I was shown the last surviving rooms of
the building- the living room and bathroom, but the kitchen was
totally wrecked.
Another house was flattened and only the wall to the living
room was left standing, revealing a beautiful old mural of El
Jablito as it looked many years ago.
Sitting on the balcony of
one of the houses overlooking the small sandy beach leading to
the harbour I was offered a drink from the shattered
refrigerator.
As I sat chatting to some of the locals about the past I was
told that some of the families ancestors started living in
El Jablito up to 300 years ago, this was long before Parque
Holandes was constructed.
Although they were very angry there was also a lot of sadness
in their eyes and also in their voices.
On the banks of the harbour there is an old fishing boat
converted into a makeshift church, it is adorned with flowers
and a statue of our lady where the wives of the fishermen went
to pray for the safe return of their husbands from the sea.
Alongside the boat is a Marquee where everyone meets at the
weekend, festival days and birthdays to celebrate.
It was quite sad to think that all of this will be lost when
the demolition is completed.
The Al Caldesa of La Oliva, Claudina Morales turned up later
and was sitting between the locals trying to console them.
When the new harbour and infrastructure is constructed it will
obviously bring prosperity to Parque Holandes and to
Fuerteventura, but I will always picture it as it was and the
friendly local characters that lived there.
By Pete Thomas
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