Honouring a Legacy in Yaiza
In an era when being a postman required offering a room in the family home as a postal office, with the service operating almost like a 24-hour citizen service point, three generations of the González family managed postal services in the municipality of Yaiza for over 70 years. Brothers Juana and Enrique González Hernández, known to locals as ‘the post office family’, inaugurated the Yaiza festivities for Los Remedios this Friday in the village square, reflecting on the conditions of the postal service in the past and their close relationships with the community as bearers of both good and bad news. Their reminiscing offered insights into the socio-economic context of southern Lanzarote, significantly influenced by the local population’s dedication to the primary sector.
Commitment to the Community
“One day, at three in the morning, a woman knocked on the door because she had received a notice about a certified letter she needed to collect in Arrecife. However, she thought it was in Yaiza and came here instead. The postman got up, opened the window, and explained what she needed to do, and she left feeling reassured,” recounted Juana González, sharing an anecdote that highlighted her family’s commitment to the community. She was joined at the table by her brother Enrique, the Mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, the Councillor for Festivities, Daniel Medina, and the parish priest of Yaiza, Jonathan Almeida.
Although Juana was not a postal employee, she assisted by receiving letters, searching for stamps, and sorting incoming mail—tasks also undertaken by other members of their nine-sibling family. The Mayor of Yaiza emphasised “the selfless dedication of the family to the community and their contributions in vital areas like education. Juana was a schoolteacher and has also devoted many years to supporting the parish’s pastoral mission as a catechist.”
The Postal Service
Regarding postal services, Juana explained that “deliveries were made punctually day by day. It was crucial to deliver telegrams urgently, as unfortunately, most conveyed bad news. Families waited with anticipation for letters from relatives abroad, young ladies awaited letters from their boyfriends, postal orders (money sent by mail), newspapers to which some subscribed, and the occasional package.” With a smile, Juana noted, “thus, we lost the González surname, and now everyone knows us as the post office family.”
Community Respect and Collaboration
Daniel Medina highlighted “the respect that the people of Yaiza have for the González family due to their service and collaborative relationship with the parish. They are very much loved.” The councillor also praised “the support of the Yaiza festival committee and all the ideas put forward to agree on the programme for Los Remedios, a fourteen-day celebration of community, joy, and tradition.”
Agriculture: A Symbol of Unity
Moreover, the proclamation by ‘the post office family’ emphasised how agriculture brought life to the village while strengthening family and social ties: “All family members were involved in agricultural tasks, and neighbours helped each other through shared successes and failures, joys and sorrows.” Juana González recalled, according to a press release, the era of planting cereals and legumes “in the fields at the centre of the village and even on the mountainside (where fireworks are set off for the end of the fiesta). It was a beautiful green landscape intertwined with the various colourful herbs and the harvest, such as white and yellow straw, or the red poppies.”
The harvested fruit, she added, “was tasty, healthy, and natural: prickly pears, as we call them here, figs from the fig tree, or brevas. Both were eaten fresh or sun-dried. Sun-dried figs, referred to as ‘higos pasados’, and the prickly pears known as ‘porretos’. And let’s not forget the sweet grapes, which, according to the elders, ‘grapes, cheese, and gofio take away wrinkles’.”
Festivities in Honour of the Virgin
After sharing historical information about the parish of Yaiza, Juana González dedicated heartfelt words to the southern celebration under the patronage of Los Remedios, with the main day on 8 September: “A mother never tires of waiting and rejoices each time her children visit. Like any mother, she welcomes us with open arms and a warm smile. When we look at our Mother of Los Remedios, we always see her smiling, with a serene and contented gaze.” Yaiza is now celebrating and invites the people of Lanzarote to join this gathering of joy and fellowship. The complete programme is published at www.yaiza.es.
