There are 120 years of history that the historic cemetery of the town of San Andrés contains, more than a century that is felt in the image of a space in which there are graves that are hardly recognized, and in which the few symbols of The remaining wood is in very bad condition. Tidying up, repairing and preparing the cemetery for the next November 1, All Saints’ Day, is what led the El Pescador Neighborhood Association yesterday to the third replacement of crosses that they make in this cemetery, which was once It was known as the Traslarena cemetery.
After several postponements, finally, yesterday, the residents of the popular coastal town of Santa Cruz were able to place 40 crosses, which are the ones that still need to be replaced, and they also cleaned of weeds from the graves of the more than 200 people who remain buried in this space that is part of the Las Teresitas beach.
The residents of the town of San Andrés met to clean up their cemetery. Sergio Mendez
The residents of the town of San Andrés met to clean up their cemetery. Sergio Mendez
On this occasion, in addition, the only two cradles that remain standing were also repaired. For the residents of San Andrés, more than a cleaning job, yesterday’s was an act of recognition and defense of the town’s history. “Before us there were already neighbors who defended him. Now it is up to us to defend our heritage and our identity ”. With this message, the El Pescador association concluded a day that, despite everything, was festive, due to the involvement and desire of a people to keep their history and collective memory alive.
The Traslarena cemetery does not have patrimonial protection, that is why the neighbors themselves with whom they make the arrangements. They remind the Santa Cruz City Council that they were promised that, after rehabilitating the San Rafael and San Roque cemetery, the next project would be the refurbishment of the San Andrés cemetery. Climbing the walls, fixing the chapel, putting light and the original door or eliminating the advertising billboard are some of the necessary actions, and they are still waiting for municipal help.
