A small rock in the Atlantic

The Tazacorte Martyrs

Father Acevedo gives the relics to Don Melchor.

In 1570, a party of Jesuit missionaries were on their way from Portugal to Brazil. They broke their journey in Puerto de Tazacorte. It was an unplanned stop: they'd been heading for Santa Cruz de la Palma, but the winds were against them.

On arrival in Tazacorte, Fr. Acevedo was amazed to find that the owner of the estate was an old friend from Oporto, don Melchor de Monteverde y Pruss. Don Melchor invited the priest to stay, and the priest gave him a small chest of relics.

The Tazacorte Martyrs: Father Acevedo has a vision of his impending martyrdom

Father Acevedo has a vision of his impending martyrdom

Fr. Acevedo said mass in the chapel of Our Lady of Anguish (Nuestra Senñora de Angustias). As he raised the chalice, he had a vision of impending martyrdom, and bit the chalice. His teeth marks are still on it.

Once in Tazacorte, they discussed the possibility of travelling to Santa Cruz over land, but decided to sail instead, in spite of the rumours of pirates in the area. I think this says a lot about the footpaths at the time.

The Tazacorte Martyrs: The missionaries meet the pirates

The missionaries meet the pirates

On July, 15th, they set sail for Santa Cruz, but the wind was still against them, and they made slow progress. Two days later they saw sails, which turned out to be boats belonging to a French pirate, Jacques Sourie.

Sourie had his men search the ship for anyone wearing a black cassock. Some were killed outright, and others had their arms hacked off before they were thrown into the sea to drown. John Sánchez was the only survivor, and only because the pirates needed a cook. So he cooked for them until they got back to La Rochelle, in France, where he escaped and made his way back to Portugal to tell the gruesome tale.

The martyr's relics are preserved in the church of San Miguel and in the the chapel of Nuestra Señora de Las Angustias. These paintings are on display in Tazacorte church.

The Martyrs go to heaven

Labels: history, La Palma, Puerto Tazacorte

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Fiesta in Tazacorte Tonight

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 the morning after. In this case, it's the Caballos Fufu in Tazacorte at 9pm. These are pretend horses, made of cane and covered with strips of brightly coloured paper. Each one has a hole inthe middle of the back for the "rider", and they dance through the streets, led by a giraffe. At 10:30 pm there's a parade of "artistic floats".

Then on Monday, there's a special mass at 7.oo am (I'll give that a miss, myself). At 11:30 the air force will fly over. And there's mass again at noon (sung) and 7:30p, followed by a procession with the statue, with fireworks. (I'm not sure if this means pretty fireworks, or just the annoying bangs they usually have with processions here.) At the end, the town band will sing a hymn in honour of St Michael.

Labels: caballos fufu, fiestas, La Palma, La Plama, Puerto Tazacorte

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Wednesday was the Fiesta del Carmen, which is celebrated in Santa Cruz and Puerto Tazacorte. They have a special mass, and then they take the statue of the Virgin of Carmen out for a procession. So far, so much like most fiestas on the island. Only in this case, they take the statue of the virgin out on a boat parade, to bless the fishermen.

These photos are fromPuerto Tazacorte. The boats go from the harbour, round to the bay just off the beach, where they sail in circles for a while before heading back to port. Then they have fireworks.