Artistic streets in Vegueta, the old town of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
In the capital's neighbourhood, we find streets linked to the memory of Saint-Saëns, Alfredo Kraus, Luján Pérez, Pérez Galdós and Néstor Álamo.
There are walks that take us to places where art was born or where the memory of someone who sowed beauty remains. The neighbourhood of Vegueta, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has art, beauty and history throughout its streets, museums, cathedral and churches. But it also has secluded streets where, if we pay attention, we can almost recognise the presence of those who once walked on its cobblestones and pavements.
Saint-Saëns and Calle Pelota
The prestigious French musician visited Gran Canaria on several occasions, searching for a place where he could create and be far from life in Paris. It is said that he arrived in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria posing as a merchant and that he wandered around the city as if he were someone else. On one of these walks, accompanied by Maestro Valle, he heard someone playing his composition Danza Macabra on the piano. He wanted to meet the person who played his composition so prodigiously and went up to the house on Calle Pelota on the corner of Mesa de León, just opposite the current Guiniguada Theatre. There he greeted and congratulated the young Candelaria Navarro Sigala, who was sitting at the piano. He did not reveal himself as the composer, and it was only much later, when the French composer was already well known in Gran Canaria and part of her artistic life, that the young performer of ‘Danse Macabre’ saw Camille dedicate the score of his ‘Valse Canariote’ to her, as a memento of that chance encounter. ‘Valse Canariote’ is a piece with Canarian sounds in which the composer leaves a musical testimony of his love for the island.
Alfredo Kraus and Calle Colón
A few metres further up, just to the side of the Casa Museo Colón, is the building where the tenor Alfredo Kraus was born and spent his early years. His father, Otto Kraus, was the administrator of the newspaper La Provincia, which was located just below the tenor's birthplace. Kraus always said that his room was located where the Casa de Colón's auditorium is now, specifically where the piano in the capital's museum's presentation room stands.
Néstor Álamo and Calle Herrería
Right opposite the Casa Museo Colón, as you walk through Vegueta, you will find a sculpture of a man with glasses leaning on a cane next to a chair. The man depicted on Calle Herrería is the composer, researcher and journalist Néstor Álamo, author of many of the best-known popular Canarian songs, especially Sombras del Nublo, considered today to be an anthem of Gran Canaria.
The art and courage of Galdós
A few metres from the statue of Néstor Álamo, if you look down at the ground, you will find one of the many quotes from Galdós' work that decorate the cobblestones of Vegueta and Triana. The one you will find in the Plaza del Pilar Nuevo, at the entrance to Calle Los Balcones, reads as follows: "Everything is sailing; everything is a continuous struggle. (...) Art and courage to avoid drowning." This text is taken from the work Luchana, published by Benito Pérez Galdós in 1899.
Luján Pérez and Calle Santa Bárbara
Santa Bárbara is one of the most hidden and beautiful streets in Vegueta, located just behind El Museo Canario. On this street, which ends at the top in a narrow alley called Bedmar, the sculptor José Luján Pérez had his workshop, as indicated by a plaque located in the exact spot where his workshop used to be. Luján is the creator of many of the most admired religious figures in the Canary Islands and his work can be found in various churches on Gran Canaria. He is also the designer of the façade of Santa Ana Cathedral.
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