Today is a national holiday – Constiution Day, which is something like July4th for Americans, only with a lot less pazazz. We’ll be meeting the extended family at the bodega for a meal. But you know, I think the constitution is something to celebrate. I don’t want to sound pompous here, but real democracy makes such a huge difference – just ask a Zimbabwean. It’s so nice to say what…
Fufo horses in Tazacorte. Today (Monday 29th) is the feast day of St Michael. Since he’s the patron saint of Tazacorte, last night the town celebrated with their famous dancing horses. Famous on La Palma, at least. Would you believe, it’s the first time I’ve seen this in almost 18 years of living here. The crowd following the fufo horses. Well, it’s fun. As you can see, a horse-shaped frame…
Monday is the feast day of St Michael Archangel. Although he’s the patron saint of the whole island, shops will be shut only in Santa Cruz and Tazacorte – that’s the main town, not Puerto Tazacorte. It’s traditional to hold the best bit of a fiesta on the night before the public holiday, so you can party half the night without worrying about the alarm clock drilling into your hangover…
As usual, the devil paid a visit to Tijarafe’s annual fiesta. It starts off like most fiestas. The village centre is off the main road, and on the way in, I passed mobile bars, blasting out music at full volume. The only surprise was that the music was drum and bass. When I reached the main square, higher up, I found it decorated with white bunting and packed with people…
Yup, it’s silly. The original battle involved something like 80,000 men, which is almost the population of the whole island. So I was expecting a cut-down version. Heck, Shakespeare did battles by having one man come on stage and say, “Imagine the battle…” So Barlovento had a rather good toy castle with about 12 visible defenders, and the sultan gave a speech about the original battle. Then a ship came…
A romería is a cross between a religious procession and a party. Typically, they hold a special mass and then take the statue out for several kilometres along a traditional route, followed by floats which hand out free food and wine, and lots of people, some in traditional dress, many of them singing and / or dancing. Since it’s a big event, most of them don’t happen every year. Saturday…