Santa Cruz de Tenerife (2)
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz Carnival Tenerife
Tenerife is bursting with fiestas. They range from town processions to romerias, which are festive pilgrimages leading from town churches to the country side. Religious and saint days are the most common reason for fiestas. The exception to this however is the Carnaval that greeting the arrival of spring, which goes back to pagan rituals.
The Carvaval is celebrated throughout the whole of Tenerife, but by far the largest and chaotic is the one held in the island capital Santa Cruz. The carnival festivities go on for 3 weeks but the mains events happen over one week with spectacular processions.
The Tenerife carnaval is comes second only to the Rio de Janeiro carnaval, and Diana Ross was spotted there a couple of years ago.
A different theme is chosen every year, the first few days there are competitions, concerts, parades, events for children and gala a night the election of the carnaval queen. The grand parade takes place the following Friday and all night dancing continues for the following week.
Other festivals in Tenerife occur throughout the year.
May:
Los Realejos
This fiesta dates back to 1676 and honours the patron of farmers, San Isidro
June
La Oratava
Here the residents of La Oratava celebrate Corpus Christi.
June
La Oratava
The Sunday after the Corpus Christi celebrations where farmers use cow driven carts and dress as magicians.
July
La Laguna
A procession features seven women, one for each of the Canary Islands. This is followed by a procession of floats, maypole dancing and others dressed in traditional dress and lots of noise and decorated streets.
15 August
Candelaria
This fiesta coincides with the \feast of Consumption. The pilgrims meet on 14th august and a grand ceremony takes place to commemorate the visitation of the Virgin Mary to the guanches. Then follows a procession to the Pozo de la Virgen were fireworks are let off.
August
Garachio
This fiesta originates from the 17th century plague when it struck Garachio. The town’s people appealed to Saint Roach who had devoted himself to plague victims in Italy in the 14th century. Every year the people of garachio converge at the chapel of San Roque, outside the town and take an image of saint Roach to Iglesia de Santa Anna in Garachio where Mass is held. A procession of the town’s folk then brings back the saint to his chapel.
30 November
Puerto de le Cruz and Icod de los Vinos
On the eve of St Andrews day the wine cellars of Tenerife are opened to welcome the year’s new wines. Some town’s celebrations are very noisy as everyone drinks the wine from the cellars.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, better known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of Tenerife and of the Spanish province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Santa Cruz is far removed from the tourist resorts of the island. Santa Cruz is a major port and has population of about 200,000 residents, which is about a third of Tenerife’s population.
The city is bustling and modern and has the feel of a real Spanish city. The suburbs spread to the Anaga mountains to the north of the city, and spreads southwest wards to the Cumbre Dorsal.
Santa Cruz shares the governance of the Canary Islands with Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, and is one of the largest ports in Spain.
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The city’s history goes back to arrival of the Conquistadors from Spain; it is on the coast at the site of the present day Santa Cruz that they landed in 1493.
Only a small minority of the tourist that come Tenerife visit Santa Cruz, as it is quite a way north east of the main tourist resorts, but this is a shame, as a visit to the city make a very interesting day out. It has a sea front promenade, shops, museums and leafy squares with cafes and terraced where you can enjoy a drink. Many cruise ships come to the port and so it has adapted for this tourist trade.
Santa Cruz enjoys the status of a ‘Free Port’ which means it can sell its goods duty free, so offers the shopper many bargains. Travel agents offer shopping trips, but these are usually only for half a day as the shops close at 13:00. You can hire a car to visit, but parking can be a problem, you should arrive early and use the underground car parks at Plaza Espania. You can also use the bus services that run from the resorts half hourly.
