Arrecife has declared three days of official mourning for ex-Mayor José María Espino, who died yesterday at the age of 88.
Espino was Lanzarote’s longest-serving Mayor, elected for the Socialist party in 1983, re-elected two more times and serving until 1995. After standing down, he left the Socialists and became a member of the Coalición Canaria.
Under his mandate, the capital saw the construction of the current Town Hall; the pedestrianisation of the road surrounding the Charco de San Ginés and Lanzarote’s inner ring road, the Via Medular.
Before his political career, he was a teacher at Macher, and had recently attended a reunion with several of his ex-pupils, now in their 60s. After leaving politics, he taught at the UNED distance learning university in Arrecife for several years, where he also served as director.
All parties and institutions have offered condolences.
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