Casa de los Romeros Las Nieves
There are several things to see in the centre of Las Nieves, apart from the church. This house was built for pilgrims in 1653, on the site of an even older building. It’s been restored several times since then. There’s also a house (on my right as I took this photo) where they sell things like postcards, rosaries and religious medals.
Canons on the hill above Las Nieves
La Palma used to have a serious problem with marauding pirates. Since the church is only a few kilometres from the coast, and contains quite a lot of gold, silver and gemstones, they had to be ready for trouble. If you climb the short path beside the pilgrims’ house, you arrive at this hilltop where four cannons have been left. I presume they used to have wooden stands which have long since rotted away. The other thing up there is a pretty good view down towards Santa Cruz and across to Llano Grande. (The path’s a bit rough. Don’t wear stilettos!)
And on the opposite side of the valley, there’s a sentry post. Although to be honest, I don’t know if this dates from the time when pirates were a problem, or from the Spanish Civil War.
Sentry post, Las Nieves
If you work up a hunger and thirst seeing with all the sightseeing, there’s a bar/restaurant on the main square. The food in the restaurant is what’s called typica – mostly grilled meat and salad with either chips or wrinkly potatoes.
