75-year-old Juan Peña has retired after 27 years of working at Tenerife's oldest gas station.

Juan Peña is enjoying a well-deserved rest. He is sitting in a comfortable chair at home, and his one-year-old grandson is crawling nearby, bringing toys to attract his grandfather's attention. At the beginning of the year, Juan finally said goodbye to working at the family gas station.

Recently, on September 8, he celebrated his 75th birthday. The festive cake, of course, sugar-free (diabetes requires it), was decorated with cute details: his dog Zorro and a pitaya tree – an exotic fruit that he has become fond of lately.

They say Peña's love for gas stations is in his blood. His grandfather, also Juan Peña, opened a station in Barranco Hondo back in 1926. It is considered the oldest in Tenerife.

At first, everything was simple: a buried tank, a pump, and two columns – one for gasoline, the other, smaller, for kerosene. "I had to pump my muscles because when the kerosene ran out, I had to dip the pump into the canister to pick up every last drop," Juan recalls.

For 27 years, Peña was the heart of this gas station, which became a symbol of Barranco Hondo. Before the southern highway was built in the 1970s, the station was a "must-stop" on the old road between Santa Cruz and Güímar, as it was the only one along the way.

Next to the gas station was a family bar, which was also popular. Travelers often stopped there for a snack and then filled up their cars. "Everyone knew my family," says Juan.

His whole life revolved around gas pumps. He worked from Monday to Saturday, from six in the morning to ten in the evening. And almost always alone. To somehow endure such a schedule, his daughters and ex-wife brought him food or replaced him for a while so that he could "run home, eat quickly, and come back."

Before finally settling down at the gas station, Peña studied to be a teacher, but dropped out and tried his luck at a block factory in Polígono de Güímar. It was then that his father asked him: "Why do you need to go there if the gas station is right next door?" And there was no turning back.

At the station, he learned everything: how to change tires, check spark plugs, change oil... The service became much broader than just refueling. Eventually, there was too much work, and he had to hire an assistant.

Although the gas station has always remained small, family-run, and important to the village. "I feel like I was like a public service for Candelaria and Barranco Hondo," says Peña.

Twenty years of lifting cars took their toll: they damaged his back and caused pinched vertebrae. He had to have surgery and have "a couple of screws" put in. Although he returned to work, he could no longer perform heavy tasks, but only refuel cars. "The gas station gave him all the good things he has, but also all the bad things," his daughter Nuria sums up.