Culture
This island never ceases to celebrate
The coming of the spring marks the start of celebrations throughout the 1,500 square kilometres of Gran Canaria. And this is no figure of speech.
The island, divided into 21 municipalities encompassing neighbourhoods, towns, and villages, finds a million reasons to celebrate once it is known that the weather will not spoil the fun.
The trail of a rocket will tell you that someone is having a great time. Join the fun. Buy a straw hat at any stall, order anything at any roadhouse, and join the celebration wave. Loosen up a bit.
Need an excuse to join up? Choose any, although there are several reasons for Gran Canaria to spend summers with music and street dancing. On the one hand, we have the calendar of saints’ days, with a large number of saints and virgins who find true and selfless devotion in Gran Canaria and receive offerings from the hands of hundreds of followers dressed up in typical island attire. Pilgrims try not to lose their balance among the large baskets filled with vegetables and sea produce, and the sound of timples and guitars.
The most important festivity from a sacred standpoint is that of the Virgen del Pino, held on September 8th, in Teror. Within a setting of traditional balconies, laurels, and ancient monkey puzzles, thousands of devotees place a myriad of offerings at the feet of the image. These offerings arrive on wagons flanked by the best of ancient dress and Canarian folklore. On these days, a wave of pilgrims begins a night walk to town from all cardinal points on Gran Canaria, some to meet promises, others out of pure and simple joy.
The other reason may be that the light of Gran Canaria brings joy to everyone. Months of joyful celebration with a blend of gatherings, sports tournaments, sun dances, open-air film festivals, and traditional music concerts on an island that enjoys itself immensely. And this is no figure of speech either.
How would we otherwise explain all the fun diverted from a celebration drenched in mud, as during St. Brigid’s festivity? How could it not be fun to watch half the town throwing water at each other in buckets or by other bizarre means, as happens in Telde? Have you not taken part in the celebrations held by fishermen in honour of the Virgen del Carmen?
Such festivities abound throughout the island. But there is still more, for there is also a third reason. In his or her own special way, each islander identifies several of these festivities with the customs of the ancient Canarians. The best known of such traditional celebrations is that of La Rama, which has its greatest moment in the Agaete village. During La Rama festivity, a large crowd bearing large branches picked on the hills at night marches towards the sea following quite amusing music bands.
The merry procession lasts all morning until the coastline is reached, where the sea is hit in a modern rendering of what is believed to be an ancestral rain dance.
El Charco - celebrated in the San Nicolás village - should be attributed the same pre-Hispanic origins. Every September 11th, at the cry of “Now!” and with the firing of a rocket, hundreds of people carrying baskets enter a large puddle by a beautiful cobble beach to catch the slippery spiny loach with their bare hands. The spectacle in itself is somewhat amazing, as amazing as an island that, perhaps due to its fine weather or its people, has always a smile on its face. It would be possible for a determined tourist in Gran Canaria to hop from celebration to celebration barely touching the ground.
Legal warning