The Plaza de San Pedro has a special, unmistakable aroma. Since 100 years ago, when the millstones began to produce gofio. An industry that emerged sharing facilities with the old Torreón de Luz, which generated electricity for the whole village. The driving force behind both installations was Antonio González Martín.
The mill has been in its current location for more than 50 years. The work of its founder was continued by his wife, first, and then by his nephew Javier. Juan Manuel Casanova, who was an employee of all three, took over the business and today, now retired, it is his son Semidán who runs the century-old mill.
Gofio is a foodstuff made from unsifted flour from toasted cereals, with a dark or yellowish tone, depending on its composition and the degree to which it has been toasted. It is a product created by the first inhabitants of the Canary Islands, the aborigines. Because of its nutritional value, it is used in children’s diets and forms part of UN food programmes. In addition to the smell of toasted cereal, the mill can also be perceived by the sound of the grinding of the millstones. The place retains the charm of the old mechanical industry, although it has been modernised, but without losing the essence of the past.
Production begins with the toasting of the cereal (millet, wheat, rye, oats, barley) by hot machines. The cereal then falls into the storage area, where two large stones do the grinding. The packaging at the top of the building completes the production process of the product, which produces an average of 500 kilos per day.
