FROM ROMERÍA TO ROMERÍA
Music, crafts, food, traditional dances, joy and colour... There is no doubt that you are in a romería, the Canarian fiesta par excellence. Each municipality has its own, and to the sound of the chácaras and timples, thousands of people gather in the different town halls to celebrate together a moment of history. Get ready to savour the authentic Canarian folklore!
WHAT ARE THE ROMERÍAS?
The village festivities
The romerías in the Canary Islands are usually traditional popular festivities, normally associated with a religious festivity in honour of a saint or a virgin. This does not take away that they are a motive of local pride and an occasion to show the typical mago's dress and to eat a few pellets of gofio accompanied by good wine.
Despite its rural origin, in some places like La Orotava, it was the aristocrats who gave life to the tradition, meeting once a year wearing the typical agricultural clothing to drink the country's wine and eat goat meat and beef. In fact, it was the nobility who recovered the use of the old traditional mago's clothes, very little functional for the peasant life but very showy for the wealthy class.
In a short time, these elitist meetings became a massive event, becoming the town's festivities. Today, romerías are a time of collective leisure and also the need to keep alive the history of a people and its cultural values.
THE CALENDAR FOR 2019
The perfect combination of fun and devotion.
Each romería has its uniqueness, flavours, smells, typical clothing and sounds, but without a doubt the common denominator among them all is the desire to recall the rural chores, now in disuse. You can attend demonstrations of Canarian wrestling, typical games like the plow or the stick, or the jump of the shepherd, and listen to the parranderos, with their timples and chácaras playing the traditional songs of Canarian folklore. And of course there is no shortage of carts that offer typical food and local wine. Boiled eggs, kneaded nougat, papas arrugadas, rosquetes and bread with chorizo perro... Are you ready to try it all? Here we leave you a list divided by months of our favorite romerías.
Tegueste - San Marcos
▪︎ APRIL
The romería of Tegueste is the one that marks the beginning of the season of the large romerías. Carts decorated with natural products from the countryside, boats, folkloric groups from all the islands, herds of cattle, and a large young public dressed in typical clothes take part in this popular festival. Normally the romería ends at the end of the afternoon, but many continue to party until all the wine is finished :-)
Los Realejos - San Isidro
▪︎ MAY
It takes place in the main streets of the town hall where the carts meet, all decorated with plants and flowers, farm implements and pig heads that have been specially sacrificed for the festival. Each one is an agricultural allegory and represents the different streets and neighbourhoods of the area. There are many ventorrillos where you can eat sardines, potatoes and taste the local wine of the winemakers.
La Orotava - San Isidro Labrador
▪︎ JUNE
The cobbled streets of the city, with their aristocratic colonial mansions, are filled with people dressed as magos to participate in one of the most popular festivals on the island. The night before is the small romería, less numerous but equally impressive. This is one of the strictest romerías and where traditions are best preserved. If what you are looking for is authenticity, this is your party.
La Laguna - San Benito Abad
▪ JULY ︎
The San Benito Abad romería reaches the streets of La Laguna every year on the second Sunday of July. The event has been declared Cultural Asset and World Heritage by UNESCO and qualified as a party of "National Tourist Interest". From the carts, during the whole tour, chops, gofio, papas arrugadas and fruits are distributed, while the parrandas enliven the way.
Garachico - San Roque
▪︎ AUGUST
Petticoats, skirts, sashes and hats... the whole town takes out of the wardrobes the gala garments to celebrate one of the most genuine and traditional festivities of the north of the island. At the same time the fishermen carry out the maritime pilgrimage, and with their boats they accompany the Saint along the whole coastline. What better occasion to discover one of the most charming villages in Tenerife.
El Médano - Virgin of the Mercedes de Rojas
▪︎ SEPTEMBER
This boat pilgrimage has become over the years one of the unmissable events of the summer. Organised for thirteen years by a brotherhood and not by the Town Hall, this festival brings together all the attractions of Tenerife: sea, heat, music and local gastronomy. An event you cannot miss, since El Médano is only five minutes by car from our complex.
Here is a list of the most important romerías of Tenerife. Click on the link to check the exact dates of all the romerías planned for 2019.
Photos by: Salvador Aznar