Tegueste - Romeria de San Marcos
Bus Routes: 483[Los Cristianos, Playa Americas] to Golf del Sur, 115[Santa Cruz] bus station, 015[La Laguna] bus station, 050[Punta Hidalgo] to Tegueste however on the day of the romeria the non-scheduled 052[Tegueste] runs a continuous service to Teguese.
Return: 052[La Laguna] bus station, 015[Santa Crus] bus station, 111[Los Cristianos, Playa Americas] to San Isidro, 470[Los Cristianos] to Los Abrigos/Golf del Sur.
Romeria means pilgrimage so this event published in the paper is the pilgrimage of Saint Mark where Canarians would walk to the church in Tegueste to celebrate the Saint. My friend Kev's holiday on Tenerife was drawing to a close so I thought this would show him a bit a local 'colour' then I began to wonder if it was a bit too far to travel if nothing much happened but we decided to go. I caught the 08:41 483 over to Golf de Sur and we retraced our route up to Santa Cruz. A ten minute wait for the 015 to La Laguna began to reassure me that we has made the right choice as there were people in tradional dress waiting for the same bus.
When we arrived in Tegueste we found that this truly is a pilgrimage. There were hundreds of people arriving by bus, there wasn't an inch of roadside left to park on and various fields and parks were full of encampments. Everyone, young and old, in the traditional dress of their region, families and friends preparing pick-nick lunches all washed down with the local red wine, vineyards to be seen for miles around. We walked down and crossed the street and headed down one of the main streets. The throng did not abate and even the side streets were packed. Groups of musicians giving impromptu performances throughout the day gave this a carnival atmosphere and everyone was pleased to speak to us, pose for photographs and generally enfold us into the spirit of the event.
The procession itself started of at the church and wound its way all around the town lead by a portable 'May pole' dance so, as it turned out, it didn't seem to matter where you are you will see the parade. The floats are ox drawn and depict all of the traditions of the area. Seemed to me to be a crossover with our harvest festivals in the UK. Packages are thrown from the floats containing all manor of goodies from nuts to little sandwiches to sweets to cakes, in deed many of the floats had a little charcoal grill oven cooking titbits as they went along. Young and old participate and all seem to enjoy the event, not sulky teenager in sight. There is the stage set up for the groups to perform and a fairground at the edge of the town but the traditional music and dancing lasted all afternoon throughout the town as well. As I have said before I find it such a pity that we have or are letting all of our traditions die in England when so much family life abounds in these traditions here. I hope that you enjoy the photographs and if you are in Tenerife when this event occurs it is well worth the bus ride.
Return: 052[La Laguna] bus station, 015[Santa Crus] bus station, 111[Los Cristianos, Playa Americas] to San Isidro, 470[Los Cristianos] to Los Abrigos/Golf del Sur.
Romeria means pilgrimage so this event published in the paper is the pilgrimage of Saint Mark where Canarians would walk to the church in Tegueste to celebrate the Saint. My friend Kev's holiday on Tenerife was drawing to a close so I thought this would show him a bit a local 'colour' then I began to wonder if it was a bit too far to travel if nothing much happened but we decided to go. I caught the 08:41 483 over to Golf de Sur and we retraced our route up to Santa Cruz. A ten minute wait for the 015 to La Laguna began to reassure me that we has made the right choice as there were people in tradional dress waiting for the same bus.
A speedy delivery to the bus station at La Laguna saw us joining the throng waiting for the bus. This turned out not to be a queue for the scheduled 050 but a non-stop relay of buses to Tegueste using the designation 052 which normally only runs twice a day on a Sunday and not even to Tegueste! Not realising this at first I wondered if we would ever get there but as we moved forward and the queue increased behind us my confidence grew. It was a jolly, colourful crowd and everyone was in good spirits, the regulars were already digging into their 'goody bags' for refreshments as we queued. We had smiles all round as I attempted to ask about the romeria and the possibility of taking a taxi. The bus is the best option was the general consensus and I am pleased that we did as it leant to the festive atmosphere. Google Maps reckoned that we would arrive by 12:45, in fact we arrived by 12:30 so despite the queue we were in good time for the procession to commence at 13:00 hours.
When we arrived in Tegueste we found that this truly is a pilgrimage. There were hundreds of people arriving by bus, there wasn't an inch of roadside left to park on and various fields and parks were full of encampments. Everyone, young and old, in the traditional dress of their region, families and friends preparing pick-nick lunches all washed down with the local red wine, vineyards to be seen for miles around. We walked down and crossed the street and headed down one of the main streets. The throng did not abate and even the side streets were packed. Groups of musicians giving impromptu performances throughout the day gave this a carnival atmosphere and everyone was pleased to speak to us, pose for photographs and generally enfold us into the spirit of the event. 
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