A small rock in the Atlantic

The Devil's coming tonight!

It's fiesta time in Tijarafe, and the devil should join the fun in the early hours of the morning. The Town Hall website says he'll arrive at 4 am. I've only been once in all the years I've lived here, and then the devil was two hours late. But then, punctuality is a virtue, so you can't really expect the devil to have, can you?

Labels: Danza del diabolo, La Palma, La Plama, The devil's dance, tijarafe

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Fiestas in Early September

There are two nice fiestas coming up at the beginning of September.

In El Paso, the statue of the Virgin of the Pine was carried in procession from the hermitage up in the mountain down to the village. On September 6th, there will be another procession to carry it back.

The Devil's dance, Tijarafe, 2007.

In Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th, the devil will join the dance. This is a man in a suit covered with lit fireworks, and no, I don't think it's entirely safe. On the other hand, I've never heard of any bad accidents, and it's certainly memorable and great fun. The party starts the night before, of course, with the usual music, dancing, and mobile bars.

Labels: Canaries, Canary Isands, Danza del diabolo, El Paso, fiestas, La Palma, La Plama, popular culture, The devil's dance, tijarafe, virgen del pino, Virgen of the Pine

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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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El Time Viewpoint

The viewpoint (or mirador) at El Time is perched on the northern edge of the Angustias ravine. Coming from Los Llanos, you drive down and down and down, round some pretty steep bends. After you cross the river, almost at sea-level, you drive up and up and up and up and up, until you're seventeen hundred feet up (535 m). There's a small car park on each side of the road.

The view is spectacular, all the way from El Paso to the coast. Even better, there's a bar right on the edge. Weather permitting, you can admire the view while you sip your coffee and eat cake (rather good cake, too). There's a craft shop beside the bar. And you can admire the view without going into either, if you're not thirsty.

A word of warning, though: the toilets are down steps. This isn't a problem for most people, but four years ago I had a broken shoulder and broken ankle at the same time, and I needed a lot of help to get down there. It's times like that when you really appreciate your friends!

Labels: Canaries, Canary islands, el time mirador, el time viewpoint, La Palma, tijarafe