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efficient, discreet, and honest through and through. The third key person is
Dr Álvarez, Director of the project, and passionately devoted to it, long before
it became a reality. He underwent an unlikely conversion from research astrophysicist and technologist to company director, and not just any company
but a public one specializing in high technology in Spain, involving participation by the State and the Canarian Community, and—as if all that were not
enough—one dedicated to undertaking a project that was considered to be
impossible. There are no words to express it. Those who have not endured the
combined administrative tribulations of State and Autonomous Community,
the extreme exigencies of astrophysicists for their instruments, and the voracious jungle of supply companies can never have any idea of the immensity of
the task. He is now rightfully recognized as one of the most distinguished
makers of large telescopes. Today you will find him in retirement, with not a
care in the world, tending his garden in Las Breñas or taking an afternoon
stroll anywhere in La Palma, wearing his Canarian farmer’s cap and always
accompanied by his wife, the wonderful Manoli.
F. Sánchez