Thirty professionals from Gran Canaria residing in Berlin met at the third ‘Talento Gran Canaria’ afterwork event

Thirty people from Gran Canaria who work in Germany participated yesterday in the first afterwork event organised by the Corporation for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria, SPEGC, in the German capital to create synergies and make contact with the members of the ‘Talento Gran Canaria’ network.

After a first rendezvous held in Madrid at the end of 2016 and another one in London in November 2017, this third gathering of people from Gran Canaria took place in an art gallery in the centre of Berlin and was also attended by the president of the Island Council (Cabildo), Antonio Morales, and the Councillor for Tourism, Inés Jiménez, who showed great interest in the projects in which the members of the network in Berlin are involved.

Dácil Granados, for example, is a museum and tourist guide and writes in a blog called “Berlin Amateurs”. Although she mainly works in Spanish she feels very comfortable in Berlin, where she already has a healthy group of friends and a job that she loves. This tourist guide from Gran Canaria who has been in the capital now for over 5 years said, “I would return without a doubt, but in a few years, like the Germans who retire and go to the Canary Islands”.

After spending time in countries such as Italy, England, Brazil and Cape Verde, Vicente Romero decided to put down roots in Berlin, where he married and is now awaiting the birth of a daughter. Despite his youth, his extensive experience in various countries and his fluency in Portuguese have permitted him to work in online marketing at a German firm in which he manages accounts and clients in the Latin American market, especially Brazil.

These kinds of events allow him to “have contacts from Gran Canaria, which is always a good thing” and share experiences with professionals in the same industry.

Varying ages, different stories and divergent experiences… some of the members of the network arrived in Berlin to study or learn the language, others fleeing the economic crisis in Spain. Carmelo Molino arrived in Berlin for love and had to start from scratch since he did not know how to speak German. Thanks to the Association “Canary Islands in Berlin”, he found the first cushion to deal with the disappointment and has now been in the city for 10 years, although “I would sign anywhere” to return to the island. This expert in Central and Eastern Europe with a degree in Slavic Studies says, “every time I go back I value the climate, the people and the sea more…the island is a luxury”.

Despite their very different stories and experiences, all the attendees agreed that events such as the one held by the ‘Talento Gran Canaria’ network are beneficial in terms of meeting others and valuing the opportunities the island of Gran Canaria has to offer to develop professionally.
The network ‘Talento Gran Canaria’, which has recently reached 850 members across five continents, has a blog in which interviews and initiatives by professionals from Gran Canaria who reside outside the island are published, and its main means of communication is the social network LinkedIn.

In addition to these types of events taking place abroad, the SPEGC organises, within the framework of this network, the event ‘Uvas de Talento’, which gathers on the island expatriates from Gran Canaria who are visiting their families for the Christmas period.