The council of Tenerife unanimously approved in the last Plenary Commission of the Presidency an institutional motion through which the Island Corporation adheres to the proposal of the Municipality of La Orotava so that the Association of Carpet Makers of the municipality is a candidate for the Canary Islands Prize for Popular Culture.
The motion, promoted by the PSOE and Citizenshas been endorsed by the rest of the political formations, after assessing that eThis group is worthy of this award for its work of “organization, production, promotion, conservation, defense and dissemination of carpets, both in its flowery aspect and in natural lands, which are carried out in honor of the Corpus Christi». This group is made up of some 700 people who participate directly in the confection of the flower carpets that are made in the streets of the Villa, as well as in the great tapestry of natural lands of the Teide National Park that takes place every year in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Law 2/1997, of March 24, which regulates the Canary Awards, promotes them “to stimulate and recognize the work and effort that people or entities have carried out in a continuous and relevant work, with transcendence for the Canary Archipelago”. With respect to Canary Islands Prize for Popular Culturethe aforementioned legal text underlines that “it will be granted to those persons or entities that have made a significant contribution to our identity and popular culture.”
The Association of Carpet Makers of La Orotava was established on November 14, 1991, in order to preserve and promote the tradition of carpeting in the municipality, deeply rooted since the 19th century and with outstanding national and international projection. In this 2022, the villero collective celebrates the 175th anniversary of the making of the first flower carpet in the Villaa key milestone in the history of this sample of ephemeral and popular art.
Pinolere received it in 2006
After announcing the approval of the proposal by the Orotava City Council, at the beginning of January, the president of the Association of Carpet Makers of Villa de La Orotava, Leopoldo Rodríguez, expressed his gratitude to the Corporación Villera for proposing the group to the Canarian Prize for Popular Culture. 2022: «We are very satisfied because this proposal already represents the recognition of the selfless work of many people over many years. Our role is to safeguard a tradition that will be precisely 175 years old in 2022, so this recognition would be a real finishing touch and a spur to our work and our many future projects.” The Pinolere Cultural Association, from the midlands of Villeras, received the Canarian Prize for Popular Culture in 2006 and for Leopoldo Rodríguez “it would be a great honor to share this recognition with a group like Pinolere”.
