La Orotava Romeria 2013
Bus Routes: 450[San Isidro], 111[Santa Cruz], 101[Orotava, P de la Cruz] to La Orotava.
Return: 108[Santa Cruz D], 111[Los Cristianos, P Americas] to San Isidro up to 19:30 departure otherwise Las Chafiras, 470[Los Cristianos] otherwise taxi.
During my original 'year in Tenerife' I attended many fiestas and Romerias around the island so this year I decided to bring you one from somewhere different and, traditionally, one of the main and biggest Romerias of the Island. Last year in June we visited the town for the 'Corpus Cristi Flower Festival' (See blog June 14th 2012) this is repeated every year as part of their week long celebrations which culminate in the Romeria which you are about to see.....
La Orotava has long been a prosperous town with many wealthy landowners going back centuries. Thus the tradition of distributing free food and wine from the harvest has been a long one and, of course, each landlord wants to excel over his neighbours - piously of course! What we have today is a local celebration of this event with some 80 odd carts, musicians and traditional dancing. The traditional costume of the area is the bright red and black but this is mixed with the plainer costumes of the fisherwomen from the coast and other regional variations. I have been told that the ornate waistcoats are normally embroidered over many years as it is very expensive to purchase outright, perhaps 1000€, so the design is added to and areas of patten enlarged as the years go by until the garment is decided to be complete.
A I walked around the town the balconies and shop windows were a riot of colourful and interesting displays on a farming theme, people strolled, played their instruments and sang before joining up to form the parade led by the queens of the fiesta 2013. The parade itself lasted for some four hours involving the young and old of the community who displayed much stamina in dancing and singing throughout so that no-one was disappointed wherever the their vantage point. The town id very thoughtful in providing chairs along the route for those who wish to view in comfort. Incidentally you may wonder why the first two photographs are of a 'finca', well this is typical of the farms on the island, clinging on to fertile patches of land wherever they may be found, which contribute to the Romaria tradition. By no means an easy way of life.
The procession ends with the statues of the Madonna and San Isidro from the church being paraded through the town before the bands strike up on varous stages to entertain the locals throughout the night depending upon your stamina!
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