The Devil in Tijarafe

La Palma has several fiestas where the devil appears. He’ll visit Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th for the annual fiesta del diabolo. This is the night of Saturday to Sunday. It starts off like most fiestas. The village centre is off the main road, and on the way in, you pass the usual mobile bars, blasting out music at full volume. In the main square, higher up,…

September 6, 2013
Read More >>

The Devil in Tijarafe

Drat! I missed the fiesta del diabolo in Tijarafe. Every year, right in the middle of the annual village fiesta, the devil turns up at Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th. It starts off like most fiestas. The village centre is off the main road, and on the way in, you pass the usual mobile bars, blasting out music at full volume. In the main square, higher up,…

September 8, 2010
Read More >>

El Time Viewpoint

The viewpoint (or mirador) at El Time is perched on the northern edge of the Angustias ravine. Coming from Los Llanos, you drive down and down and down, round some pretty steep bends. After you cross the river, almost at sea-level, you drive up and up and up and up and up, until you’re seventeen hundred feet up (535 m). There’s a small car park on each side of the…

August 16, 2010
Read More >>

Easter

A lot of people on La Palma take Holy Week very seriously. The bigger churches hold solemn processions, which look very exotic to my English eyes. They take various heavy statues along the street, and some of these statues are beautiful works of art from the 16th century. But the bit that grabs visitors’ attention is the costumes. They remind me of the Klu Klux Klan. This is unfair, because…

April 3, 2010
Read More >>