RECOGNIZED IN THE WORLD

His initial idea was not to make himself known in the town, but people would only appreciate what he was doing. "I wanted to be a hermit, but I let myself be seen by the first people and then tourists began to arrive from Nicaragua and around the world," explains Alberto.

The worn, oversized shoes he is wearing were given to him by an Australian tourist 16 years ago and he has been wearing them ever since. He has become friends with hundreds of visitors who come looking for his "great work of culture"

And like their admirers, the sculptures have a cosmopolitan touch that characterizes them, because in some rocks Arab camels, the twin towers of New York, elephants of India and even boas of Brazil are depicted.

"Welcome gallery of sculptures", he repeats at the same time that he points to the sign that welcomes visitors. He smiles tenderly as he looks at his name written there. He is still learning to read and write, nobody teaches him, nobody explains him, according to him, everything comes out of his imagination.

"I'm going to tell you from the twenties so you can see how I develop my language: 20, 19, 18, 17 ...", continues until reaching zero. "If I know the multiplication tables by heart," he says, before starting to recite at full speed the table of 10. "Without books, without anything, just by listening to my mind I learn."