The plenary session of the City Council of La Laguna will submit a motion in its April session to request the Cabildo de Tenerife to start the procedure for declaring Holy Week in The lagoon as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC).
According to the text of the motion, from the socialist municipal group, the proposal is based on “the outstanding historical, artistic, cultural and heritage values that it possesses, and that is more than five centuries old, with Holy Week being the most ancient of all the Archipelago”.
The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, pointed out that the initiative arises in agreement with the Board of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of the municipality, understanding that Holy Week in La Laguna “has unique characteristics that justify a declaration of this nature, that guarantees its protection and favors its diffusion and projection”.
Holy Week in La Laguna, the oldest in the Canary Islands
According to the text of the motion, Holy Week in La Laguna has the status of being the oldest in the Canary Archipelago, thanks to the fact that San Cristóbal de La Laguna was the first capital of the island of Tenerife and the former capital of the Canary Islands. The city also houses the headquarters of the Nivariense Diocese since February 1819.
Added to this uniqueness are the special cultural, artistic and heritage values ”of a celebration that is lived with great devotional intensity, but that transcends the strictly religious dimension, and that has been transmitted over more than 500 years”.
In addition, the motion highlights the characteristics of the Holy Week in La Laguna. Among them are the importance of the processional parades, with a rich theological meaning, but also an abundant traditional and cultural symbology typical of our land.
Another of the outstanding aspects is the important number of brotherhoods and brotherhoods that participate in this celebration, the result of a social movement that has lasted throughout the centuries.
The great patrimonial, artistic and historical value of the island and foreign religious imagery (of peninsular, Flemish, Italian or American origin) and other elements inherent to the cult, such as goldsmithing, constitute another of the singularities of Holy Week in Laguna, as well as the condition of being held in a World Heritage City of Spain, which confers exceptional value to the setting in which the processions and religious celebrations take place.
The motion also recalls the rich catalog of images of great historical-artistic value that make up the processional steps, as well as the role played by the brotherhoods and brotherhoods in the conservation and care of this religious imagery, as is evident when analyzing the beginnings and subsequent evolution of these entities after their foundation at the end of the fifteenth century.
The reestablishment in 1877 of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and the reconstruction of the new Santa Iglesia Catedral in 1913 are dates that mark a resurgence of the life of the brotherhoods in the city, whose role was essential for the configuration of the Holy Week. Santa as we know it today, with the creation of the Magna Procession in 1927, the Early Morning Procession in 1933 or the first Proclamation of Holy Week in 1949. We will have to wait until 1953 for the creation of the Board of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, recognized by the City Council in 2017 with the city’s Gold Medal.
