The beginning of this work, which I present here, began to take shape after the visit I made to the Red Cross Museum in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1990. From that moment, my interest in the history, activities and actions of this Institution, to the point that, when the time came, I decided to carry out my research work on this subject referring to the Canary Islands.
The Red Cross and the Red Crescent is an institution that throughout its history has managed to establish itself in the five continents. Its presence can not only be seen in Europe and America but also in countries such as India, China, Japan, Pakistan, Australia, Morocco, Egypt and a long etcetera. We are therefore, before an institution on a world scale. In its 143 years of existence, this institution has attracted considerable attention in various areas and times, with numerous reports, articles, works and existing publications. Seen in this way, we might think that we are facing a sufficiently well-known field with little room for maneuver to be able to add contributions of interest.
Despite the abundance of publications related to the institution, we note that these, in a large part, were devoted to general, international and national issues, being those referring to the regions the least abundant and incomplete. In this sense, we must point out that the research topic before us is unprecedented in the Canary Islands.
Therefore, in the first place, our attempt is limited to the Canary Islands. From the beginning and as we went deeper into the investigation, we sensed that we were facing a more complicated issue than it might seem at first sight. However, both in the approach to our work from a globalizing perspective and in the configuration of it, we must point out the incidence of the following methodological and structural aspects:
· The disparity of the Canary Islands.
· The absence of documentary sources (in general), in the archival collections of the Institution in the Islands over the period in question.
· The dispersion of informative and documentary sources.
· The scarcity of jobs, both in the Islands and in the rest of the Spanish State, that address the issue in the Canary Islands.
· We have proceeded to the consultation of all kinds of archives, of the State Administration, provincial, insular, etc.
· We have obtained a fundamental contribution through the documentary collections of the Central Archive of the Red Cross in Madrid, and the Archive of the Provincial Commission of the Red Cross of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
· We have made the most complete emptying possible of the local press.
· Finally, we have also gone to read books that address issues or aspects related to our work.
Regarding the structure, we wanted to carry out a work that reflects the social impact of the Red Cross in the Canary Islands, taking as its axis the Provincial Commission of the Red Cross of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The determination of this structure can be justified, mainly, for two reasons. First, because of the shortcomings in the archival panorama of the rest of the commissions. Secondly, because the Provincial Commission of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the most important during the period that we discussed in our work and, also, because it undoubtedly conditioned the guidelines to be followed.
So, the goal that we pursue is, above other considerations, to improve the understanding of the main aspects that are interrelated through the Red Cross. In this sense, our purpose will be to help expand and publicize the different actions of the Red Cross in other social areas in addition to the health. It is not enough to take advantage of the idea of ambulances and some wounded to define the Red Cross. In order to better understand its incidence, activities and behavior, we would have to ask ourselves several questions, which, translated into the context of our theme, Canarias, would be the following:
· What influence has the Red Cross had on Canarian society?
· What role has it represented in cases of catastrophes and calamities on the islands?
· Have you had cultural contributions other than humanitarian ones?
· Have you taken initiatives against certain social problems?
· How have your relationships with government agencies been?
Throughout the presentation of this work we will have the opportunity to check and answer these questions. For this, as we said previously, we have consulted the largest and most varied documentation possible, trying to collect the different positions of the sectors involved.
