These are the famous sea-front balconies in Santa Cruz de la Palma. Actually these are the backs of the houses: the fronts look onto the Calle Real. When I first came to the island in 1990, the woodwork was all green and the plaster all white. For the town’s 500th anniversay, in 1993, the whole lot disappeared behind acres of black plastic sheeting for weeks while they were repainted…
My favourite! Of course this is the international year of astronomy. The kids’ cross beside the one above. This is GranTeCan, the (Big Canarian Telescope) which will open this year. The Centro de Niña Jaubert (a home for mentally handicapped adults) produced this old fashioned cheese factory. And the cross the handicapped people did by themselves. The decoration is pasta, sprayed gold. Cruz de la Pasión. At fist I thought…
This is a local fiesta in Santa Cruz and the Breñas, in celebration of the Sacred Cross. As often happens, the main party is the night before the public holiday. The wayside crosses will be beautifully decorated. Since most crosses are hung with gold jewelry (among other things) people stay beside them in shifts all night, and all the next day. Most holidaymakers go and admire the crosses on the…
Every year Santa Cruz has a demonstration of living statues, and this year is the fourth. The statues are on the Calle Real today, Saturday and Sunday.Everybody calls the main street in Santa Cruz de la Palma, “the Calle Real”, but nowhere along it’s length is there a street sign with that name! I used to suspect that the whole thing was invented to confuse visitors, but now I know…
Bride, groom, and bridesmaid I was a little slow getting out to see the crosses this year, but I was glad I made the effort. The traditional crosses were much the same as last year (see https://sheilacrosby.com/fiestas/cruz.php ). But one street in Santa Cruz absolutely delighted me. Wedding breakfast For the last few years, it’s been fairly common to have a few mayos or machangos beside the cross. These are…
Tomorrow is Fiesta de la Cruz — The Festival of the Cross. Like many Catholic places, La Palma has a great many roadside crosses. Tonight, practically all the ones in Santa Cruz, Breña Baja and Breña Alta will be decorated, most of them gorgeously. Since most of the crosses are hung with jewelry, the people who worked on them sit close all night, usually making a party of it ans…