The Gardens of Ceylon

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Literature · Subcategory: Literary fragments · Year: 1982 · Authors: Daniel Duque

The writer Daniel Duque (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1949) in his book The Gardens of Ceylon and Other Stories , published in 1982, reveals to us throughout various tales the concrete presence of the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In the story titled "The Gardens of Ceylon", guided by its main character, Goyo "the Barranco", we wander through well-known city places: 

«The dance resumes at the crossroads and, already on the Serrador bridge, Barranco thinks about the dress Rosa must have put on and hopefully it is the white one with little red flowers, which has the easy and manageable neckline. The run of a child passing by his side pulls him out of his reverie and he spots on the corner with Miraflores a motley and noisy group, pointing towards the pier. Goyo looks up and his glasses fall as he observes a smoke rising behind the Caja de Ahorros. He quickens his pace and joins the circle where a jewelled faggot explains to the daifas who look at him with professional eagerness:

- In Plaza de la Candelaria, for sure.

And Barranco’s legs fly as he passes in front of the Guimerá Theatre and the smell of burning increases when turning at Cruz Verde and, upon reaching the square, he sees that the fire is in "The Gardens of Ceylon".»

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