The writer Eduardo Reguera publishes 'Guide to a Forgotten City', the third volume of a trilogy that uncovers small stories from the historic centre of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The writer Eduardo Reguera presented 'Guide to a Forgotten City' this Sunday, the third and final volume of a trilogy dedicated to the small stories hidden in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The book, which is released on 26 July 2026, completes a journey that began in 2022 with 'Guide to a Vanished City' and continued last year with 'Guide to an Invisible City'. In total, the three volumes encompass 128 locations and 128 tales that invite readers to view the city differently.
Reguera, who admits to having a special curiosity for seemingly minor episodes of the past, explained that his new work focuses on the period from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, his favourite. Far from being a conventional tourist guide, the book uncovers hidden stories found in newspaper archives, historical records, and private collections. Among the anecdotes included, the story of the dogs in Santa Ana square, the sculptures that crown the Town Hall, and the forgotten cemetery that lies beneath the Canary Museum stand out.
The volume is structured into 18 chapters, plus an additional one dedicated to the Vegueta cemetery. In these chapters, Reguera combines research articles with first-person narratives. “I use real data from certain episodes and fill in the gaps with literature,” he noted. Thus, readers encounter narratives such as the murder of Sofía Inglot, the crime on Los Canónigos street, or the fires at the Theatre in 1918 and the Cuyás cinema. In these latter accounts, Reguera positions himself as a time traveller observing from a sailboat on the coast or from the street, without intervening, to make the reader a witness to the events.
One of the stories that surprised the author the most is the one that gives its title to the chapter 'The Letter Hidden in the Toiletry Bag'. The letter, written in 1873, was found in a gentleman's travel case from the late 19th century that had belonged to Felipe Massieu Falcón. Upon investigating, Reguera discovered that the letter was from his sister-in-law, who ended up becoming a nun. “A letter written in 1873 that comes to light in 2026, reaches my hands, and sometimes I feel that there are things that come to me and are like stories that want to be told,” he confessed.
The writer's main sources are the newspaper archive of the Canary Museum and the Provincial Historical Archive, as well as old press. He also resorts to objects and documents found in antique shops, which can be traced. “The advertisements, viewed collectively, are a fantastic portrait of the society of that time,” he stated, recalling his two previous publications on the subject: 'Eye: a thousand curious advertisements from the 19th century' and 'Eye: a thousand curious advertisements from the 20th century'.
Reguera emphasised that his work is not intended for tourists, but for the citizens of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. “It is an invitation to look at the city from another perspective to understand that the city we see today has many historical layers,” he explained. The author proposes a three-kilometre walk through the historic centre, rescuing aspects of the lives of people who did not hold significant positions but were important pieces in the everyday life and development of the city.
The book is already available in bookstores in the Gran Canaria capital. With this conclusion of the trilogy, Reguera consolidates his role as a chronicler of the everyday, offering an intimate and detailed view of a city that, as he himself says, “has many historical layers” worth discovering.
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