Territorial Information System and
Spatial Data Infraestructure of Asturias

The commitment and dedication with which the vast majority of the personnel at the service of Public Administrations carry out their work do not receive the recognition they deserve from our society. All this daily and silent work, often invisible, applied to very diverse areas of action, but always oriented towards the common good, is too often unfairly overshadowed by the prejudice, increasingly widespread, that associates public function with inefficiency, obstacles or paperwork. They do not occupy pages in the newspapers or appear on social networks, but the constant dedication of so many public workers makes, at times in an unexpected way, our daily lives a little better.

During his four years of assignment in the Cartography Service of the Principality of Asturias, until his unfortunate death in June 2023, the Topography engineer Damián García López carried out his duties with an exceptional level of professionalism, and always giving much more than was required. His technical mastery of the subject, highly specialized and constantly evolving, allowed him to successfully complete various ambitious and innovative cartographic projects in our region in that relatively short space of time. Applying very advanced tools, Damián was capable of converting enormous volumes of data into reference spatial information, essential for a better understanding of our territory, and very useful for the design of all public policies, from health to risk prevention, including transportation, environmental conservation or the protection of cultural heritage. Among his responsibilities, it is worth highlighting the updating and maintenance of the Topographic Base of Asturias at a scale of 1:5,000 - the cartography applied as a basis in the thematic viewers of the Territorial Information System of the Principality of Asturias -, the administration of the Active Geodetic Network of the Principality of Asturias - which allows highly precise topographical work to be carried out through the Global Satellite Navigation System -, his active participation in the Specialized Commission for Geographic Standards, or the latest revision of the Autonomous Map at a scale of 1:200,000. The orthoimages of the 1956 and 1970 flights, essential to understand the recent transformations of the territory of our Autonomous Community, are also the fruit of the rigor, the desire to improve, the generosity and the constant search for perfection that characterized his work. In short, Damián embodied the best virtues of a public servant.

But in addition to being an impeccable professional in his performance, Damián was, above all, an excellent colleague and very loved by his companions in the Cartography Service who were lucky enough to share tasks, endeavors and projects with him, and his memory will always serve as an example and inspiration for all. That is why our Photo Library, which he contributed so much to enrich, bears his name, as a small tribute to his memory, and as a sign of appreciation and affection for his family.