Aparceros

Overview

Maspalomas, in the south of the Gran Canaria island, as well as an international tourist centre, is also an important agricultural centre dedicated to tomatoes. The lands are cultivated by families from all around the island who work not as salaried workers but as sharecroppers (aparceros). These families, during the seven months that the harvest lasts, live in barracks built by the owners in the same land they cultivate. Between tomatoes, the aparceros cultivate other products for their own food and for their animals. Water is scarce and it's really appreciated. At the end of the harvest, the day of San Fernando, the aparceros celebrate in popular festivities, which include cockfighting and lucha canaria. This documentary was recorded in 1972, but couldn't be shown until the year 1977, as the Franco regime's censorship retained its exhibition permit.