Wednesday 9th March The Sardine’s funeral This is probably the second biggest event in Carnival. As the name suggests, it’s a funeral for a gigantic sardine, and downright Pythonesque too. Wear black and/or drag, and be prepared to wail with fake grief. Wednesday in Santa Cruz, Friday in Los Llanos, Saturday 19th in Los Sauces (a particularly good one) Santa Cruz de la Palma 18:00h. Reception and Wake for the…
Monday 7th March Santa Cruz de la Palma Los Indianos For most people, this is the big event. Many poor Palmerans emigrated to Cuba and Venezuela. This fiesta celebrates the ones who came home rich. Everybody dresses in white, some have suitcases full of monopoly money, and it’s a giant talc-throwing fight. You can see the timetable at http://www.transporteslapalma.com/transportes/Mapas/Indianos2011.pdf 10:00 h. Waiting for the return of the emigrants in the…
Carnival is a big deal in La Palma. By now we’re all fed up with the (relatively) cold, wet weather and ready for some fun. Carnival is just what we need: an explosion of colour and music with a dash of lunacy before Lent. I always say people are making sure they have something really juicy to repent, but these days most people just regard it as a darn good…
The people who lived on La Palma before the Spanish arrived in 1493 called the island Benahoare, and themselves Benahorita, and they’re the subject of the permanent exhibition upstairs at the ethnographic museum in Los Llanos. The Benahorita lived in caves and wore animal skins, but they weren’t stupid. They farmed, and they had quite a bit of technology considering there’s no metal ores on the island. Their ceramics are…
This morning I finally got to see the ethnographic museum in Los Llanos. It’s been open for four years, so I wasn’t exactly jumping the gun. The building’s at the top end of Los Llanos, and the outside is an example of what you can do with concrete when you stop thinking about shoe boxes. I’m sure only smart-mouthed philistines find themselves thinking of gasometers. It’s just that I used…
This morning I finally got to see the ethnographic museum in Los Llanos. It’s been open for four years, so I wasn’t exactly jumping the gun. The building’s at the top end of Los Llanos, and the outside is an example of what you can do with concrete when you stop thinking about shoe boxes. I’m sure only smart-mouthed philistines find themselves thinking of gasometers. It’s just that I used…