Michael Jackson’s concert in Tenerife in September 26, 1993 completely revolutionized the island.
So much so, that on the 30th anniversary of his visit, the memory is kept alive: “There has never been a phenomenon like it on the island. The comparisons are unfair, but a similar star has not yet been born,” said Andrés Aguiar, radio presenter on “Good Morning, Canarias!”.
Getting the King of Pop to perform in the Canary Islands was the hardest task in hand at the time. Aguiar recalls that the negotiation began at the end of the 80s and that they were years of negotiations because “the idea of bringing Michael Jackson, who was the undisputed number one, was like an unattainable dream to be Tenerife completely out of all the circuits of the great international artists.”
“At the beginning of 1993 it was confirmed that Michael Jackson included Tenerife within his World Dangerous Tour and that was the show we could see on the esplanade below the Cabildo by the Plaza de España . If today it is still very difficult to bring any great show to the Islands due to the fact of having to move with heavy material, Michael Jackson was no less.”
Several weeks before, two Antonov planes brought this exclusive material to the South Airport and a caravan of trucks took it to Santa Cruz to mount the show on the esplanade next to the Cabildo building.
Michael Jackson did not arrive in Tenerife until September 25 and did so at Los Rodeos Airport: “It was a show since they began to set up the stage until the artist’s own arrival in Tenerife, which I remember was a massive reception,” recalls Aguiar.
At the airport of Tenerife North, Photographer for the Diario de Avisos news paper, Javier Ganivet, was waiting for the king of pop’s landing. He immortalized the first steps of the King of Pop on the the island who was greeted by children, dressed in a traditional costumes to give him flowers. Those images went around the world and in all the islands.
After his arrival, Michael moved to the Botanical Hotel in Puerto de la Cruz by limousine and escorted by three vans. Hundreds of fans crowded in front of the hotel and he went out to the window to greet them up to four times.
24 hours later came the big day, his performance on astage 77 meters long and 28 wide. Outside the concert, three ambulances and some fainting of the thousands of people who came. Some were fans of the island and others, admirers who followed him around the world.
What happened on that stage is the history of music in the Canary Islands. For Aguiar, an artist like it has not yet been born: “Michael Jackson was unique, comparisons are odious, but the truth is that I think it is difficult for there to be an artist of that caliber and charisma again. I wish there could be something like that again, because I think all of us who love music deeply wish we had a role model like Michael Jackson.”
30 years later, the people of the Canary Islands are still remembering this exceptional event.
