Although it is considered that the internationalization of the company is a relatively new matter as a social concern, the truth is that it has been trying for years on the part of certain business groups with a certain size. In truth, these are successful and well-known cases and it is even possible that the process was intensified with the decree of tourist moratorium implemented in the Canary Islands since the beginning of the millennium as a result of the law of unintended consequences.

As it was not possible to invest in the Islands, some companies decided to do it abroad. Some companies have better coped with the consequences of the crisis that started in 2007 mainly due to their territorial diversification and although it is true that the effects were felt throughout the world no one is aware that the recovery was much faster in other regions around the planet.

Among the many causes for competing abroad there is one perhaps not so appreciable but it is the one that small companies use to achieve it. Lacking training, capital and knowledge most of the time, such companies take advantage of their good resources to accompany the client to whom they have been able to provide good service. All things considered, it shouldn’t be so odd that a satisfied customer becomes the best contact person when it comes to facilitating new opportunities.

A similar event took place in the past. For example, the first multinational auditing firms arrived in the Canary Islands together with the companies that settled there to supply the African market, as happened with Wrigley, the chewing gum manufacturer.

So that could partially explain the rapid growth of a small company in the North of Tenerife, Grupo Antonio Afonso.

The founder, whose name appears as the firm’s denomination, was a construction laborer who left his studies at the age of fourteen to help the family economy and, by then, he dedicated himself to working in a company specialized in marble. He spent seven years there, being hired every six months until he decided to get married (1982) and the first children began to arrive.

As he replied in an interview with La Gaveta Económica, “I didn’t know how to do anything else and the family had to be “He was already in the sector and he knew his job. But as the married man house wants, according to the saying goes, he began to build his own, which would have consequences that chance allowed.

He asked for a quote from the company for which he worked to carry out the construction of a staircase, but that exceeded his possibilities. “At present, we do it for a lower price than they asked me then,” he emphasizes. He used artificial stone that mirrored the natural one and got the ball rolling. It may be a clear case of serendipity, but it wasn’t long before this stairway was noticed by contractors who noticed its quality and beauty. That was just the

beginning. Those dreams of being in charge of work in other people’s companies were gone and it was time to start working on their own, trying to find those clients who might be interested in the proposal. Although these are years of intense work and various uncertainties, he went on working non-stop and in 1989, he can establish his own company as limited partnership.

After a year, the conversations began with the Gigansol Group that, at that time, was in charge of the construction of Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque. The story deserves to be told. Andrés Piñeiro, the renowned architect unfortunately now deceased, and Juan Davila appear in a sports car at the company’s facilities, which, after all, was a place still to be developed, a small precast workshop.

Antonio Afonso, covered all with cement as appropriate in the face of this situation, meets them in the right place where he and his wife Carmen act as bricklayers, salesmen and accountants at the same time. This is, probably, the core moment in the company’s luck because it supposes a remarkable increase in quality. It is not at all strange that Antonio’s eldest son, with the same name as his father, smiles at the image so far detached from the established concepts of professionalism used nowadays.

How did the prestigious architect know those little artists in the use of artificial stone?, “I suppose he had already seen some of our work; that is why he came straight away to us” Just as the south of Tenerife could not be conceived without the figure of Piñeiro, it is likely that the company that wanted to remain Icodean would have had a more complicated future without that visit.

In a few months everything changed. That small company which resembled a cooperative with its seven workers becomes something more appreciable with more than one hundred and forty, multiplying the turnover by eight all at once. Of course, the road travelled was full of difficulties. In fact, there were many instances of doubt motivated by strenuous working hours and tiring road trips. But, in Piñeiro’s team they also found understanding and complicity as well as encouragement and spirit that led them to working with common sense to finish the work. The display of ingenuity was also a central factor. Of course, at that time, they were working with designs and materials that today can be easily reproduced on computers, but by then had to be made up.

In a few months everything changed. That small company which resembled a cooperative with its seven workers becomes something more appreciable with more than one hundred and forty, multiplying the turnover by eight all at once. Of course, the road travelled was full of difficulties. In fact, there were many instances of doubt motivated by strenuous working hours and tiring road trips. But, in Piñeiro’s team they also found understanding and complicity as well as encouragement and spirit that led them to working with common sense to finish the work. The display of ingenuity was also a central factor. Of course, at that time, they were working with designs and materials that today can be easily reproduced on computers, but by then had to be made up.

In just a few years, the company went from selling its products with a photocopied catalog to almost monopolizing this type of commission in the area that was developed next to the hotel, which was managed by the Meliá Group at that time. In the same way that Hotel Bahía del Duque changed the environment, Antonio Afonso Group would do the same with its trajectory but without leaving its original municipality.

They have continued working in the same place and from there they forge their own successful story, which, however, they assert it would have been even better if they had grown up in some of the business decision centers, either in the island’s political capital (Santa Cruz) or in its pole of economic development (South). They cannot even complain, since those jobs that were successfully undertaken and completed soon opened them the doors to other islands to such an extent that their trademark reaches them all without exception and, as if that were not enough, they have been travelling companions of the most important tourist and construction groups of the archipelago.

They have been able, and show pride for this, to make compatible different and simultaneous works on different islands, which gives good proof of the degree of professionalism achieved. What is surprising is that such rapid growth was so well assumed by an organization headed by a man who perfectly fits the American definition of “self made man”, but combining the elements correctly was not only necessary to achieve good results in the works but also to grow in reputation. Fleeing from bank financing, choosing well the travel companions and gaining trust were quite relevant. In this respect, Antonio Afonso recalls "when many years ago in Icod, I needed a mixer with a certain size and price, I received the support of a person who assumed the responsibility of offering me help in case I was not able to." It was not necessary. The seriousness wanted it to always be the “currency” of the company and it continues to be so.

In just a few years, the company went from selling its products with a photocopied catalog to almost monopolizing this type of commission in the area that was developed next to the hotel, which was managed by the Meliá Group at that time. In the same way that Hotel Bahía del Duque changed the environment, Antonio Afonso Group would do the same with its trajectory but without leaving its original municipality.

They have continued working in the same place and from there they forge their own successful story, which, however, they assert it would have been even better if they had grown up in some of the business decision centers, either in the island’s political capital (Santa Cruz) or in its pole of economic development (South). They cannot even complain, since those jobs that were successfully undertaken and completed soon opened them the doors to other islands to such an extent that their trademark reaches them all without exception and, as if that were not enough, they have been travelling companions of the most important tourist and construction groups of the archipelago.

They have been able, and show pride for this, to make compatible different and simultaneous works on different islands, which gives good proof of the degree of professionalism achieved. What is surprising is that such rapid growth was so well assumed by an organization headed by a man who perfectly fits the American definition of “self made man”, but combining the elements correctly was not only necessary to achieve good results in the works but also to grow in reputation. Fleeing from bank financing, choosing well the travel companions and gaining trust were quite relevant. In this respect, Antonio Afonso recalls "when many years ago in Icod, I needed a mixer with a certain size and price, I received the support of a person who assumed the responsibility of offering me help in case I was not able to." It was not necessary. The seriousness wanted it to always be the “currency” of the company and it continues to be so.

After developing so many jobs in the Canary Islands, it was not strange to think abroad and everything happened as it was recounted at the very beginning. They already had experience in Lanzarote, where they were able to work with Martinon Group at the hotels The Volcan Lanzarote and Marina Rubicon. They were immersed in the construction of Melia Paradisus in Puerto Rico.

The high costs of local labor led them to set up an architectural patterns company in Cancun and Antonio Afonso advised them. Although it was an initiative of a third party, there is no doubt that it caught his attention immediately, an idea to explore in the forthcoming future.

From the hand of Piñeiro himself, the next chapter was to be written in Benidorm. With the development of Terra Mítica, Hotel Melia Villaitana was built, a great luxury hotel destined to modify the urban landscape of the area, which was inaugurated in 2006.

They leave their mark there because, although there is powerful competition, the adaptability of this Canarian company constitutes its great challenge, “there are many companies there, but not “customized taylors”, and that is precisely what we are. Here we are used to having everything; there, they specialize in a few models” states the founder of the company.

But the thing is, its name also sounds like a synonym of speed and quality, as in the case of some houses pending construction in which they were able to finish five in the time when a local company made only one. The die was cast and there was no turning back. The fact of staying alone in the Canary Islands was not in the plans of a group with an idea of enormous growth among its peers. Not all the projects were good; some were frustrated, such as investments and jobs in the nearest Africa. That permanent invitation of our leaders let us face the most bloody reality.

As there is no legal certainty, it becomes very difficult to respect contracts, private property and/or even get the bills collected. Even so, some nibs are left along the way, few, but no desire to continue growing.

They receive advice from friends and acquaintances to enter Latin America. Colombia and Panama seemed the favorite destinations. In the latter, there was already a construction boom that the completion of the Canal works has not yet hindered. They did not stay there at that time, since they wanted to enter Mexico because they have always kept an eye upon the United States and from there everything was assumed easier. A Canarian citizen living in the Aztec country for more than three decades, José Luis Crespo, opens the doors for them and they join forces in order to begin the journey through the North American country. The adventure lasts two years. The absence of security makes them give up the project and start looking for a new destination. The crisis had already started in the Canary Islands in their sector, so all the creativity was now dedicated to finding a new destination abroad in which to try their luck.

And this is how a lucky fact opens a door for them again. A friend of the family, Fernando Hevia, an Asturian living in Panama, invites them to the country and it is there where they discover an immense number of projects to be developed; among others, the possibility of making the new Headquarters of the Vatican Embassy.

The project goes out to tender and they win the bidding to do what constitutes their true specialty: cladding and decoration of facades. They get a $ 700,000 contract but, above all, a passport to other proposals in the small country that joins both hemispheres. At this moment they already have their offices and showroom in the city center and are developing a luxury hotel with a golf course, apartment complexes and whatever may come: “Construction is taking place at full speed and we want to take advantage on the occasion; we are forewarned by what may happen there ”, he tells us but warns that“ Panama is like a disguised colony of the United States. If we do the job well, we can have great years and this might even facilitate our final leap to the USA.”

All this, of course, while still looking at our country, the reactivation of the sector does not leave them indifferent and there are numerous projects in which they are immersed. Maintaining their family structure, the marriage formed by Antonio and Carmen plus their four children (Antonio, Juan Jose, Nestor and Sergio) make up the structure of the company in a cohesive way, dividing the work areas, but not the dreams. They have clear goals and
the growth of their own brand will provide them with new opportunities that they will foreseeably know how to take advantage of. Glassydur (micro-concrete material with high performance, fireproof and resistant to hurricanes) has become the star product, obtaining the recognition and authorization of the United States authorities as a previous step to its “conquest” of that market, the old aspiration that they have been chasing for a long time.

It is difficult to predict what will happen, especially knowing the hostility shown by the new President Donald Trump to foreign companies. If it were up to them, it should be presumed that they will not remain, but, to tell the truth, the states with the greatest Hispanic presence have become the object of desire for this family business born in Icod de los Vinos. And there they continue, looking at the world.