A small rock in the Atlantic

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Fiestas in Breña Baja

Los Cancajos
They'll be having yet another attempt to cremate the octopus in Los Cancajos on Friday 12th, starting at 8pm. This was supposed to happen during Carnival, but it's been postponed twice due to bad weather. The town hall assures everyone that the octopus won't have gone smelly, because it's been frozen during the wait.
[This is a joke. I'm sure it isn't a real octopus.]
Anyway, the procession will leave at 8 pm from the chemist's near the south end of the village.

San José
Spain celebrates Father's Day on March 19th, because that's St Joseph's day. Since the Spanish for St Joseph is San José, the village of San José will hold fiestas, starting on Friday 12th at 5 pm. There will be various sporting events and talks, an exhibition of oil paintings which opens on Monday evening, and films (in Spanish) . There'll be a special mass on Friday evening (the 19th) and on Saturday there's a hike, bouncy castles and a horse race. In the evening, there's batucada (serious percussion) a stage performance by the kids, and a disco.

Labels: Breña Baja, Cancajos, fiestas, La Palma, La Plama, San Jose

Bookmark with:

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Corpus Christi in San Jose

San Jose main street at Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi in San Jose isn't nearly as spectacular as it is in Mazo, but it's still very nice. Since the whole thing takes out on a flat, tarmaced street, the tradition is to make carpets of coloured salt, with the altars being much more modest. This year, many of the carpets are made from seeds and petals, like in Mazo.

This carpet is by the Residents' Association from El Socorro.

Much as I love the petals, I think it's a mistake for San Jose to become a second-rate Mazo. I prefer salt (which I suspect wouldn't work on Mazo's steep cobbles, anyway). You can have brighter colours and finer detail.