Death in Vegueta

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Literature · Subcategory: Literary fragments · Year: 2023 · Authors: Christian Santana Hernández

The Gran Canarian writer Christian Santana Hernández (Telde, 1975), in his work Death in Vegueta , published in 2023, uses the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as the setting to develop the plot. A ruthless killer, an old-school policeman, and the Vegueta neighbourhood itself are the main characters of the intrigue. Cobbled streets are silent witnesses to crimes of great symbolic and literary weight.

The author, in what may be the most personal work of his career, speaks to us about the city in these terms:

“After meeting Sara, Paco Luis moved to the place where Álvarez's body had appeared. In Santo Domingo square, time was frozen. Surrounded by street lamps, it was the ideal setting for the escapades of Don Juan Tenorio. It was a bit cold and only the sound of the leaves of the trees swayed by the breeze could be heard, because hardly any cars passed and there was still no one at the headquarters of the Orden del Cachorro.”

In another excerpt we read:

“He lived nearby, on Doctor Chil, next to the Museo Canario (Canarian Museum). So he usually set off walking to his house, enjoying the cobblestones… He always cut through the hermitage of San Antonio Abad and turned left, heading towards Pilar Nuevo square, leaving Casa Colón (Columbus House) on his right and advancing to Espíritu Santo street.”

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