The Dragon Tree Path

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Literature · Subcategory: Literary fragments · Year: 2006 · Authors: José Luis Sampedro

José Luis Sampedro (Barcelona, 1917-Madrid, 2013) was a writer and economist who advocated for a "more humane, more supportive economy, capable of contributing to the development of the dignity of peoples." In 1990 he was appointed a member of the Real Academia Española. In 2010 he was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain by the national government for "his outstanding literary career and for his thought committed to the problems of his time." In 2011 he was granted the National Prize for Spanish Literature.

José Luis Sampedro spent part of the year in Tenerife, residing in Santa Cruz, a land whose symbols, the dragon tree and Mount Teide, inspired his work The Dragon Tree Path , published in 2006, where he narrates several situations set in the city.

"Of course I will begin my article with the conventional local description. I will present the Rambla that tourists see: undoubtedly a splendid promenade, with its central walkway for pedestrians and its houses, among which detached villas with small front gardens predominate. I will also mention the so-called street furniture, with several public seats sometimes arranged in groups forming a crescent to facilitate gatherings; in addition, there are playgrounds for children and various sculptures, including one by the famous artist Henry Moore. The result is a true example of the most recommendable urban planning.

But the essential elements are the trees. The Rambla is a long avenue with double rows of columns, which are Indian laurels with trunks like old silver and their leafy branches intertwining at the top to create a beautiful canopy against the harsh sun. Along the central promenade, on either side, run flowerbeds that, at the foot of the trees, offer a rainbow of the most varied flowers. Low concrete borders serve as edging for these flowerbeds and protect them from possible trampling by playing children or the mischief of skates and bicycles. Well, in some places the concrete appears broken, but not due to childish neglect but by a deeper force that even cracks and lifts the pavement of the promenade.

This damage gives us a magnificent lesson in life, as it reveals an earthly force overcoming a human perversity. For the impetus that breaks the concrete and lifts the floor and flowerbed slabs is the tremendous force of life: that which makes the roots of the tall trees grow and spread underground. Some, more superficial, we see sprouting at the base of some trunks, growing like powerful arms that the plant growth thickens, without the compacted earth around or the restraint of the hard concrete being able to prevent it."

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