A small rock in the Atlantic: 26/04/09

Fiesta de la Cruz Tonight

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 morning of the 3rd (Sunday), but the locals go see the crosses starting at about 11 pm the night before, when it's cooler and more atmospheric.

For the last few years, it's been fairly common to have a few mayos or machangos beside the cross. These are giant rag dolls, something like scarecrows or the guys I used to make for bonfire night. Last year, one street in Santa Cruz was full of them.

If you've got a hire car, the best plan is to go up to San Isidro and follow the crowd down the hill. There are crosses all the way along a very steep lane, which used to be a donkey track. Tonight it'll be one-way -- downhill. (You go up the much newer, asphalted road.) As you approach each cross, you'll find a small traffic jam. You go past the cross slowly (usually saying, "Oh wow!") and drive on to the next.

If you haven't got a car, I recommend a stroll around Santa Cruz, particularly up the older bits.

Labels: Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Fiesta de la Cruz, La Palma, Santa Cruz

Bookmark with:

Our Lady of Monserrat

Yesterday was the fiesta of Our Lady of Monserrat in Los Sauces. They held a special mass, followed by a procession with the statue. Religious art isn't really my thing, but it's a beautiful statue.

The procession follows a fairly long route: the building in the background is the church, and they're just beginning. I had to miss the rest of the procession and the loa (see yesterday) due to a previous commitment.

Procession for Our Lady of Monserrat, Los Sauces, La Palma

Procession for Our Lady of Monserrat, Los Sauces, La Palma

Labels: fiestas, La Palma, loa, Los Sauces, Our Lady of Monserrat, procession

Bookmark with:

Fiesta in Los Sauces tonight

Today is a local holiday in Los Sauces, for the fiesta or Our Lady of Monserrat. Other than the day off work, it's a purely religious festival. Tonight at 6:30 pm they'll be a special mass in the church (the big church on the main square on the main street - very easy to find.) This will be followed by a procession with the statue of Our Lady, and then a loa.

A loa is absolutely nothing to do with the voodoo loas. In Spain, it's a musical dialogue between two singers, usually dressed in costume. I believe at Los Sauces, they're traditionally dressed as angels, and it's very pretty.

Labels: fiestas, La Palma, loa, Los Sauces, Our Lady of Monserrat