La Laguna – Easter Sunday

Bus Routes: 470[Granadilla], 111[Santa Cruz], 015[La Laguna] total journey time 2.0 hours
Return: Travina (tram) to Santa Cruz, 111[Los Cristianos, P Americas Est] to San Isidro, 470[Los Cristianos] to Los Abrigos. 

In the quest to see a procession of the cloaked brotherhoods in the full regalia I decided to go up to La Laguna on Easter Sunday. (Unfortunately it is the Good Friday procession when this takes place.) This is the first time I have been there but appeared to be a reasonably easy journey to make even on a Sunday. I took the now well travelled route to Santa Cruz setting off at 08:00 as I was not sure about how long it would take to find the Cathedral from the bus station at La Laguna. As it turned out it was a straight forward journey arriving in Santa Cruz in time to catch the 015 'Directo' and arriving in La Laguna to find that the 'estacion' has now been moved nearer the centre of town. The location is now on the Autopista del Norte (TF-5) exit leading to Avenida de la Trinidad next to 'Campus Central' (Edificio Central de la Universidad de La Laguna). This in turn was only a 10 minute walk from the cathedral though it looks longer on the map.

We shall be returning to La Laguna, a city steeped in the history and architecture of the Island and is near the site of the final battle with the Guanche. It was declared a World Heritage Centre in 1999. For this trip I was off to find the cathedral. Although it was raining slightly when I arrived it was quite warm, having made enquiries at the ticket office and been told that the next bus towards the Cathedral would be in 40 minutes I asked how long it would take to walk. The young lady pointed out that my map was wrong and the bus station had moved. Go down the stairs to street level, cross the road and the tram tracks, turn left, a hundred yards to the roundabout and turn right. 

We are now on Av de la Trinidad. 5 minutes walk, passing the tram terminus (thought for later!) brought me to a T-junction where I asked the way as it looked much further on the map. Walking around some very historic streets which look pedestrianised but are not (one way traffic) I found the Santa Iglesia Cathedral Square. This is a copy of the cathedral in Pamplona, of neo-classical design and contained 'a treasure trove of valuable artefacts. Not any more the interior of the cathedral was destroyed by fire about 2 years ago and is now under reconstruction. I don't know if anything was saved. At the left front corner of the cathedral is a duck pond with a very elaborate duck house, I know not why. So much for the 12 noon Easter Day service and procession advertised in the paper. 

All is not lost, meandering up 'La Carrera' (Calle Obispo Rey Redondo) the street opposite the cathedral, We arrive at the first parish church of Iglesia de la Concepción. The origional church was built in 1511 and the current tower was built at the end of the 17th century.  I wandered around the Plaza before, you guessed it, coffee and a snack in one of the many cafes. Replete, I managed to take some photographs inside the church before attending the 12 noon service which was Catholic and in Spanish but I got the drift and all seemed welcome. I was disappointed at the number of tourists wandering in during the service and even using flash photography. The procession out of the church was was different again from the one down in Adeje, after taking some photographs I returned to the church and took some more of the interior especially the stained glass windows. There are many themes to the church from Gothic to the Mudejar-style coffered ceiling. It also contains a glazed baptismal font dating from the conquest of the island.

It had started to rain again as I wandered down a parallel street back towards the Av de la Trinidad. I took some photographs of some of the important buildings which I hope to visit on another day when they are open. I also noticed that, as with Christmas, the shops and banks display 'Holy Week' settings in their windows which reminds one of how much a Catholic country Tenerife remains.


I also discovered an excellent pastry shop and cafe and stopped for coffee, savoury pie and a tasty cream cake. Back at the Av de la Trinidad I decided to try out the tram back to Santa Cruz using my 'Bono' card, I didn't have to worry about where to get off as the terminus is just outside the bus station. The journey time seemed to be about the same as the 'Directo' bus service but is probably much quicker on week days. I spent the time chatting to an English and a French 'au-pair' (?) who were resident in Tenerife and I had exchanged pleasantries with earlier, what a coincidence. I hadn't been watching the time but, as the 111 runs every 30 minutes, I only had a short wait for the bus home. By the time I arrived at San Isidro for the exchange the sun had come out so the 20 minute wait for the 470 back to Los Abrigos was not unpleasant at all. I got back at about 20:00 hours and decided on a beer, burger and fries at the Note de Caffe before retiring to my apartment. An interesting day out all round despite the typically 'English Bank Holiday' weather.

View my 'La Laguna' Photo Album

Information on 'the brotherhood' in Seville, Spain which explains the 'pointy hats':

Wikipedia: Holy Week in Seville, Spain