Mario García Cames

Mario García Cames (22 July 1883 – 26 December 1951) was a Uruguayan diplomat, aviation pioneer, and sports leader who served as the first president of the Spanish club CD Tenerife between 1922 and 1924.

In the early 1910s, he became a prominent promoter of aviation in the Iberian Peninsula, organizing the first documented complete flights in the history of Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon.

Early life and education Mario García Cames was born in the city of San José de Mayo, Eastern Republic of Uruguay, on 22 July 1883, as the son of Isidro García Curbelo, a Canarian merchant, and the Uruguayan Cipriana Cames Ferreyra. In 1900, the restless and adventurous García Cames decided to drop out from his studies in the University of Brussels for the sake of pursuing a sporting career, something that was within his reach thanks to both his "extraordinary physical abilities", and his family's comfortable socioeconomic position, which covered all of its expenses.

Life in Tenerife In the mid-1910s, García Cames married a young native of Montevideo, María Esther Sayago Velazco, In the club's first season in 1922–23, the Tenerife team played 52 matches, winning the Copa La Suprema, the Sixto Machado Medallion, and beating several Madeiran teams during the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Madeira in late 1922, as well as a 7–1 trashing of Cádiz in May 1923, and a 1–0 win over Celta de Vigo in July 1923.

Later life In May 1929, García Cames was appointed consul in Biarritz, France, a position that he held for over seven years, until September 1936, when he obtained a new posting in Turin, Italy.

Death García Cames died in Libertad on 26 December 1951, at the age of 68.