The day of crosses and fires began to be celebrated in Los Realejos at midnight, when hundreds of people came at the end of a long-awaited countdown that had begun on May 3, 2022. At dawn the chapels on El Medio and El Medio streets were opened El Sol to show the enormous floral work carried out to decorate the two crosses that represent the historic royal pique. As visitors began to fill the streets, an unexpected guest appeared that began to tarnish the most important day of the May Festival: the rain. Constant rainfall and cloudiness forced the decision to take the cross out into the street to be postponed until the last minute to honor it with the great fireworks display. Despite the hours of uncertainty, after 10:00 p.m., the cross began its journey.
The rain set the agenda and already forced the morning procession to speed up, although it was not an impediment for the great fireworks to leave the air with the smell of gunpowder. The clouds and a constant chipi chipi reduced the attendance of visitors and made it difficult to visit the more than 300 decorated crosses between the center of Los Realejos and La Cruz Santa. At 8:00 p.m., the representatives of the local government and the entities participating in the party met to decide what to do in the face of a rain that endangered the procession of the cross and the great fireworks on El Medio and El Sol streets, one of the largest fireworks displays in Europe.
At that meeting it was decided to keep the procession leaving at 10:00 p.m., as it occurred. If, upon reaching the chapel on Calle El Sol, the weather conditions were suitable “for burning”, the fireworks would begin. Otherwise, the Cross would be taken to La Pila street to wait in case conditions improved. If after 00:00, El Sol street had not been able to start burning, El Medio street’s proposal was to postpone the exhibition until tonight. The Hermanos Toste fireworks, from Los Realejos, and Hermanos Caballer, from Valencia, worked hard to keep everything ready so that, despite the bad weather, they could show in the sky the tribute of light and sound that these two streets have prepared with great effort. in the last year.
