My father was a fisherman from this area, from Mogan, and mymother from Atalaya de Guia, that is why I studied as a boarding pupil at the salesians school of Santa Maria de Guia. At eleven I dropped from that school but continued studying in Mogan, attending the winter school and going out fishing in the summer. When I turned 16 the sea became my life; I’ve been working on this profession over the last 45 years.
I remember when I was 10 or 12 that the boats going fishing everyday were rowing or sailing boats. These were little boats under 10 metres overall length and the fishermen’s arms were solid as rock. I didn’t row much because my grandfather won a engine-propelled boat in a draw. The strongest canning industry in the island, Lloret & Llinares, which had a factory in Mogan, drew a boat and my grandpa was the lucky one. I am the proprietor of own my boat since 1992.
When fishing at night, you use the ‘petromales’. These are big lamps we used to allure the fish. Nowadays these are no longer used, but on those little rowing and sailing boats, besides the crew and the fishing gear, we used to carry those big lamps with us hanging out the hull.
We used to breed pork and grow some tomatoes or aubergines in a small field… everything for self-consumption at home. In the winter, when there were no fish, we worked on those activities or maybe planted banana trees on somebody else’s estate. We never stopped back then, always making some money for the family.
Our women have always been a strong beam to lean on. They never stopped working hard and when bad times come along they would save the household economy.
