Los Realejos celebrated its big day of Cruces y Fuegos de Mayo yesterday, a celebration in which, as a result of the meteorological instability that settled on Wednesday in the north of Tenerife, with some rain included, looking at the sky took on a very broad meaning .
Since Tuesday, more than 300 pieces of wood were adorned throughout the municipality, especially in the Holy Cross, where there were around a hundred crosses on chapels, facades, windows, hallways and patios. “The neighbors proudly receive those who visit them and many invite them with wine and some delicacy from the local confectionery,” the mayor of Realejero, Adolfo González, recalled yesterday.
The festive day began at 7:00 am with the ringing of bells from the tower of the main parish church of the Apostle Santiago. Almost from that moment, thousands of visitors began to arrive in the municipality throughout the day, to share with the neighbors the inherited tradition of floral and pyrotechnic offerings to the Holy Cross. Among them, from 10:00 a.m., groups from different parts of the Island as part of the Descubre Los Realejos municipal tourist program, joined by several hundred more tourists from the Peninsula through concerted programs with tour operators.
Between 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., a new edition of the Gastronomic Fair of the Crosses and Fires of May was scheduled in the Plaza de Viera y Clavijo, in whose temple of Santiago Apóstol the solemn Eucharist took place, at 11:30 a.m., with the subsequent procession of the Holy Cross and, upon arrival, a fireworks display from the adjoining Plaza de La Unión.
The agenda contemplated around 5:00 p.m. two separate parades of the Realejos Fanfare, through El Medio and El Sol streets, and of The Vid Band, through La Cruz Santa, where they were also going to join parrandas. Around 6:00 p.m., a new parade between El Sol and El Medio, with the 101 Brass Band, accompanied by giants and big heads.
fire and water
Around 10:00 p.m., and despite the rain, the Holy Cross left in procession again from the temple of the Apostle Santiago, visiting the chapel on Calle El Sol, a place that was going to star in the first part of the famous fireworks display. at night (something that at the close of this edition was in the air due to the inclement weather), with the transfer of the Cross in La Pila street to the porters of El Medio street, to continue towards its chapel, starring in the second section of the fireworks display and return the Santo Madero to the temple that guards it. At the end of the nocturnal procession, the countdown of the external clock of the Municipal Tourist Office began, in front of the main parish, to count day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute and second by second what remains for the arrival of the May 3, 2024.
Los Realejos dressed up for their big day. Fran Pallero
The artistic content is added to the religious one. Fran Pallero
The town showed more than 300 crosses. Fran Pallero
The neighbors are the ones who preserve the tradition. Fran Pallero
