jose antonio pardellas obituary canary islands

Veteran Canary Islands journalist José Antonio Pardellas dies aged 88

A life dedicated to broadcast journalism

José Antonio Pardellas, the journalist and former director of Radio Nacional de España (RNE) in the Canary Islands, passed away this Thursday at the age of 88, according to the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Press Association (APT), of which he was a member. A recipient of the Ondas Award (1978), he was also awarded the Canary Islands Prize for Communication (2010) and the Patricio Estévanez Prize for Professional Career (2019). It was on the public broadcaster that he popularised the phrase “one hour less in the Canary Islands”, which was later adopted by the rest of the media on the mainland.

Early life and career beginnings

Pardellas Casas was born in Vigo (Pontevedra) in 1938. He held a degree in Geography and History from the University of La Laguna and a master’s degree in Audiovisual Business Management from the Complutense University of Madrid. He began his professional career in 1958 at Radio Juventud de Canarias, alongside such memorable figures as César Fernández Trujillo, Paco Padrón, Maite Acarreta, Genoveva del Castillo, and Diego García de Soto. He worked as a presenter and scriptwriter until 1964, the year in which he secured a position at Radio Nacional de España through competitive examination, taking on roles as presenter, news editor, programme director, and host.

He was the first television presenter in the Canary Islands, broadcasting from Tenerife. He carried out this work between 1964 and 1978, covering both the Telecanarias news programme and outside broadcasts (carnivals, interviews, reports, and other features), which he balanced alongside his career at Radio Nacional.

Leading RNE in the Canary Islands and beyond

In 1981, he was appointed regional director of RNE in the Canary Islands, a role he held until 1994. He was tasked with merging Radio Nacional and Radio Cadena Española in the islands, a process that the Director General of RTVE later entrusted him with completing across the rest of Spain (1992), appointing him Director of the Network of Territorial Broadcasting Stations, based in Prado del Rey, Madrid.

From the Canary Islands, he presented programmes for a nationwide audience, including Españoles en la Mar (also broadcast worldwide via Radio Exterior de España), Revista de Historia on Radio 3, and Canarias a propósito del V Centenario (awarded by the Spanish Merchant Navy). Also broadcasting from the islands, alongside such prominent figures as Eduardo Sotillos, Luis del Olmo, Carlos Tena, and Pepe Ferrer, among others, he developed programmes that reached the entire country, such as Para vosotros jóvenes, Circuito Nocturno, Tardes de verano, and Protagonistas.

Of particular note is the fact that the expression “one hour less in the Canary Islands” is attributed to him from the early days of Protagonistas (1969).

Later career and lasting influence

He went on to become managing director of Canarias de Radio y Comunicación and director of Radio Isla Tenerife. At that local station, he hosted the daily interview programme A golpe de teléfono, which featured the most prominent figures from the archipelago’s political, scientific, cultural, and social spheres.

For several years, he was a regular panellist on the programme Tajaraste on Radio Club Tenerife (Cadena SER) alongside Gilberto Alemán, Carmelo Rivero, and Puchi Méndez, as well as on the discussion programme Desayunos del Mencey on Teide Radio, among other programmes and talk shows on various island and regional radio stations.

Since 2008, he had been a member of the Spanish Academy of Radio Sciences, alongside well-known names such as Luis María Ansón, Luis del Olmo, Jesús Quintero, Juan Manuel Gozalo, Ángel Faus, and other prominent figures in Spanish radio.

He contributed to the Canary Islands regional television channels on the programmes Buenos Días and El Expreso, as well as to TVE’s 59 segundos and Canarias Radio la Autonómica. He also collaborated with various print and digital media outlets, both in the Canary Islands and nationally.

Awards and literary legacy

He won the Ondas Award in 1978 for Professional Career and Best Radio Presenter, received the Canary Islands Prize for Communication in 2010, and the award for Best Professional Career in journalism in 2003, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Chamber of Commerce. He was also honoured by Radio Ecca for his years of collaboration with the educational broadcaster in the islands.

Pardellas was the author of the books Oh, la Radio! (Ediciones Idea, 2009), a collection of stories and professional experiences from radio in the islands, and Hermana Radio (Canarias3puntocero, 2018), which compiles interviews with the most popular figures in Canary Islands radio. He also published texts on radio in the Canary Islands in various volumes of the Enciclopedia de Canarias, published by the CCPC.

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