A small rock in the Atlantic

The feast of San Juan (St. John the Baptist) is June 24th.

Many people light bonfires on St John's Eve. In the days before municipal rubbish collection, it was a practical way of having a clear out. But in Puntallana, there is a long-held folk belief that the bonfires keep away witches. Jumping over the fire is supposed to protect you from disease and the Evil Eye. It's also a great night for fortune telling, using earth, air, fire and water.

I'm sure hte people celebrating would insist that this is a Catholic festival, and nothing at all to do with the Wiccan Midsummer celebrations, which also feature bonfires.

Labels: Canaries, Canary islands, La Palma, La Plama, Midsummer, puntallana

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Monday, 23 June 2008

The Lover's Leap

A long time ago, a young goatherd in Puntallana fell in love. Nothing unusual about that of course, especially since the girl was very beautiful.

The trouble was that she didn't feel the same way. He was tall, handsome and athletic, but she hoped to marry someone richer. After all, a goatherd's wife worked fourteen hours a day and went hungry in the bad years.

But he wouldn't take "No," for an answer.

In the end she got so tired of his pestering that she said she'd marry him if he performed an impossible task.

Because the Palmeran Terrain is so steep and rough, the goatherds followed their flocks with the help of a long wooden pole. In fact, the pre-hispanic Awara used much the same technique and some shepherds and goatherds still do, although it's more often a local sport these days. Some of the leaps they make are spectacular.

So the girl told the goatherd that she'd marry him if he made three semi-circular leaps out over the edge of the cliff at La Galga. This was a very difficult technique, in a very dangerous place.

To her astonishment and dismay, he agreed!

The agreed day arrived, and of course at least half the village went along to watch.

"In the name of Jesus!" cried the young man, and swung out over the void.

Amazingly, he landed safely on firm ground, to everyone's relief.

"In the name of the Virgin!" he cried, and swung out again.

Again he landed safely.

"And in the name of my beloved!" he cried, and swung out for the third time.

Some say he was simply tired after the first two leaps. Some say that Heaven was offended that he put a rather vain young woman on the same standing as Jesus and the Blessed Virgin. Regardless, as he swung back towards safety, he missed his footing and dropped to his death on the rocks far below.

They also say that the girl went mad with grief and never married at all.

Today a statue marks the site of the tragedy. Take the road north from Santa Cruz, towards Los Sauces, and turn off at the village of La Galga, following the sign for San Bartolome. There are two viewpoints. The lower one, beside the church, has a fantastic view of a bridge over a ravine. But if you carry on the top of the mountain, you get a view of all Puntallana, plus the statue.

And here's a short video of the technique for getting down a steep hill, using the pole.

Labels: Canaries, Canary islands, La Palma, La Plama, Lovers leap, puntallana, salto del pastor.

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Monday, 16 June 2008

Flags Galore

You see a lot of flags on La Palma. Most English visitors will recognise the flags of Spain and the European Union.

But the Canary Islands are an autonomous region within Spain, and they have their own flag too. You see it a lot, especially around May 30th, which is Canary Day.

And then each island has its own flag. Here's the flag of La Palma:

And as if that weren't enough, La Palma has 14 municipalities, of which twelve have their own flag.


Santa Cruz	Breña Baja	Los Llanos

El Paso	Barlovento	Breña Alta

Garafía	Mazo	Tijarafe

Puntagorda	Puntallana	Tazacorte

(The other two municipalities are San Andres y Sauces and Fuencaliente)

Labels: Barlovento, Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Canaries, Canary islands, El Paso, Flags, fuencaliente, Garafía, La Palma, Puntagorda, puntallana, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma, tijarafe

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Saturday, 26 April 2008

Cubo de la Galga

Cubo de la Galga is a very pretty walk along the bottom of the Galga ravine, between Puntallana and Los Sauces. By Palmeran standards, it's an easy walk.

"Walk! La Palma" is a good book, but the bit about the bottom end of the walk at Cubo de la Galga is out of date already. The Island Government (the Cabildo) have been busy.

There is now a car park at the beginning of the walk, on the road at km 16. You're unlikely to get lost for the first kilometre or so, because the path's actually asphalted, never mind signposted. It's a matter of taste, but this part was a bit too tamed for my taste, and I was glad when the asphalt stopped. In fact the path is currently so smooth you could actually walk for a couple of kilometers in stilettos, if stilettos are your thing. (I bought a pair of stilettos just before I came to La Palma. I've used them so little that seventeen years later, they still don't even need heeling.)

There are caves in the ravine walls. This one has a wall built across the mouth. at the time we wondered whether people had lived there at one time. Now I wonder whether it mightn't be the "windows" in the water channel, the Canal de Estado.

The book is absolutely right that the place would be famous if it weren't so close to Los Tilos. The path criss-crosses the stream bed (a trickle in April) and the ravine walls and trees tower over you.

This means that the roots are at eye-level.

When the signpost seemed to indicate that it was time to turn back, we carried on a little, up a much rougher path.

The path went under a little aqueduct.

Just above there is a flattish space, where we stopped to eat our sandwiches. Above that, the path divides. According to Charles Davis, you can make your way back to the road by another route, but we weren't sure of the way and I had to get back for the babysitter. So I can't tell you whether there are still fallen trees over the track.

Throughout the walk, there were lots of butterflies, mostly sitting still until the camera focused, and then fluttering off. But I got lucky eventually. This one is common in the western Canaries, but lives nowhere else.