No. 22 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

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GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA Nº 22
The Swedes came to stay
Jardín Canario Viera y Clavijo
On 23rd November this year, the
Swedish rehabilitation centre in
San Agustín, Svenska Re, celebrated
the 50th anniversary of its
creation in 1972. In December, we
received the visit of the Swedish
Ambassador to Spain, Teppo Tauriainen,
to mark the commemoration
of the 70th anniversary of
the creation of the Viera y Clavijo
Botanical Garden just outside the
capital, whose main architect was
his fellow countryman Eric Ragnor
Sventenius. There will also be
a commemoration in 2023 of the
50th anniversary of his death in a
traffic accident near the botanical
garden itself, which is now one of
the most interesting and unique
in the world, thanks to the climate
of Gran Canaria, the wealth of endemic
species on the islands and
its seed bank.
The Canary climate is extremely
healthy for the Scandinavian
community. It has been this way
for decades, creating a bond between
the Scandinavians and the
islanders that has lasted for many
years, especially after World War
II. For this reason, many corners
of the island are linked to people,
entities or events related to Sweden,
such as the Santa Lucia celebrations
which take place jointly
between the Nordic community
and the people of Tirajana.
During the the 1950s, several people
from Sweden contributed to
the modernisation and development
of the island. A consortium
of executives from various companies
got down to work, namely
ASEA, SAD, Electrolux, Skarne
International and the insurance
company Flygia.
Success was made easier by personalities
such as Bertil Harding,
creator of the first charter company
between Gran Canaria and
Stockholm, who lived for months
in a hut on the dunes of Maspalomas
and at weekends cycled
Teppo Tauriainen
Jardín Canario Viera y Clavijo
around the island to the port in
the capital. A few months later,
he was hard at work promoting
the island by inviting the most
famous singer of his country over
here.
It was no strange place for Swedish
tourism. In the capital they
had their own club and created
the Café Suecia, which still retains
its charm. The Larsson couple
also opened the Bellman restaurant
until they moved to the
south of the island to create Café
Paris.
They even entered public radio
programming through the voice
of Ingemar Pallin, the actor who
gave up his career to become a
radio broadcaster and producer.
He is the only Swede in Spain to
be awarded the Medal for Tourism
Merit, the highest state distinction.
Soon after its inauguration, in
June 1973, the Swedish community
was shocked to hear the
news of the death of Sventenius
in a traffic accident after 20 years
of dedication to the creation of
the Botanical Garden. He was one
of the most prominent Swedes
involved in the transformation
and modernisation of Gran Canaria.
In fact, the first urbanisation
of what is today one of the
top tourist resorts in Europe was
christened Nueva Suecia, meaning
New Sweden. Its original
constructions came in the form
of bungalows, all equipped with
materials and electrical appliances
from Northern Europe.
These modern appliances arrived
much earlier on the islands than
they did in mainland Spain, as the
latter was plunged into a political
and moral dictatorship that were
obliged to open up to certain
manifestations of freedom that
came from the cold north. And
establish themselves they did.