Virginia Barcones attends in Los Santos to the emotional tribute in memory of Javier Álvarez Merino

• The government delegate has been present in the discovery of a plaque reminiscent of the mayor of the Villa for 32 years

November 3, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, attended in Los Santos the discovery of a plaque in memory of Javier Álvarez Merino, mayor of the town for 32 years, between 1983 and 2015. The event took place on the occasion of the inauguration of a new signage in the Granito Theme Park, a park promoted and inaugurated by Javier Álvarez himself.

The government delegate has attended the event invited by the mayor of Los Santos, Noemí Rodríguez. The sculptor Amiable Diego and the widow of Javier Álvarez Merino, María Ángeles Román Martín, among other authorities and neighbors of the town have been present.

The delegate of the Government thanked the invitation to be present at the act of tribute to Javier Álvarez Merino: “It’s exciting to see a people sharing this tribute. Javier loved his people and his people loved Javier,” he said. He has indicated that Javier Álvarez gave the best of himself for 32 years so that “this town, each of you, could have the best services”, such as the municipal swimming pools, the municipal residence or the Granito Theme Park itself.

Virginia Barcones has affirmed that Spain would be nothing “without those institutional representatives, without those mayors who give everything in exchange for nothing”, suffering along the way dislikes and spending much of their time.

With respect, he explained that society is built on referents, considering Javier Álvarez as one of them: “Our society is built on referents and Javier Álvarez has to be a referent for all of us who are dedicated to the public, to politics, because Javier was and will be the description of the best policy, which has as its sole vocation to serve and help things go well.”

“Javier is and will be a reference for all of us, an example of a vocation of service, of commitment to the public and of serving our neighbors from the purest that are our small municipalities,” he said.

The event consisted in the inauguration of the new signage of the Granite Theme Park. This signage consists of eight explanatory posters on the figures that are along the park as well as 16 pieces in the shape of an arrow that will allow an ordered tour of the interior of the park. In addition, another eight explanatory posters have been installed in the so-called Museum of the Granite Theme Park.

On the wall of the Museum is where a commemorative plaque has been installed in memory of Javier Álvarez Merino, promoter of the Park located outside the town. Said plate reads: ‘Granito Theme Park, to Javier Álvarez Merino; For the dedication to your people’.

The action has been carried out thanks to the City of Los Santos and the Association for the Integral Development of the Sierra de Salamanca (ADRISS), with funds from the Leader Program, in which it participates in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Located on the outskirts of the village, the Granito Theme Park is a space dedicated to this type of rock and to the stonework, for centuries one of the livelihoods of Los Santos. It has an interpretation center where the profession of the quarries is described from its origins and its close relationship with the people.

Throughout the park there are a number of compositions carried out by the sculptor Amiable Diego with granite blocks, from sculptures to swings, and ancient utensils used to work the stone. Figures of animals, dolmens and menhirs, a tribute to the order of the Temple and even a kind of Stonehenge are found along the route.