Aroma of flowers and toasted heather. This is how the municipality of La Orotava smells every Thursday of Corpus Christi, an aroma that is characteristic of that day and that remains intact over time.
The carpet makers began to organize themselves early to make the 35 tapestries and corridos that made up the route along which the procession of the Blessed Sacrament passed before reaching the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The times of each one were disparate. While the younger ones were looking for the molds and the bags with flowers, the older ones were already beginning to place the petals in their drawings, of various types and colors, just like the t-shirts and polo shirts that identified each group. Greens, yellows, different blues, browns and whites. And everyone, from the oldest to the youngest, with rigorous hat and sunglasses. Because if there is something that could not be avoided yesterday it was intense heat and intense sun, especially in the morning.
Dozens of families, groups of friends, groups and schools turned to their designs, in which geometric figures, flowers and abstract art were once again the favorite motifs. Like other years, there were those who had to adapt them to the colors of the flowers. This year, white, which is found in the world flower and in the broom, was the one that was most lacking, but the range of colors, made up of roses, hydrangeas, agapanthus, daisies and chrysanthemums, was varied. All this with heather as a base, either natural, green, or brown and black if it is toasted.
One of the peculiarities of La Orotava is that the flower petal is used and, for this, one hundred women and forty men look for them and remove the leaves three days before to distribute them among the carpet makers.
Thursday of Corpus Christi is the day that La Orotava opens up to the world to proudly show off its ephemeral art, a tradition that attracts thousands of people every year. It is a day of celebration, which yesterday was lived with more intensity if possible after several days of anguish at the expense of how the great tapestry of volcanic sand in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento would be after the damage caused by the rain on its two sides .
The Artearena collective, which received an injection of encouragement from the people in the last two days, managed to recover the entire central part and 70% of the venue was almost intact, as planned in the initial design. “We are going to go down in history because the water has blurred the two side tapestries,” said the Councilor for Fiestas, Alexis Pacheco. By leaving them and placing two large canvases on the facade of the Town Hall with the entire process documented, the public was able to appreciate the commendable work carried out during 45 days.
The great tapestry was a combination of the hand of man, “and of the divine force of nature, which has faced water and earth to create a different work, although no less interesting for that,” said its director, Domingo González Expósito. . Hours later, the tapestry disappeared, like the flower carpets, after the procession of the Blessed Sacrament passed by.
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The villero carpet makers amaze with a sublime offering to Corpus Christi. Fran Pallero
The wait for the Blessed Sacrament in the City Hall is lived with the same emotion as always
Brotherhoods, brotherhoods, members of the Municipal Corporation, the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo de Tenerife, mayors of other municipalities on the Island and the consular corps of Finland, Guatemala, Portugal, the Dominican Republic and the Slovak Republic participated yesterday in the solemn Eucharist of the Infraoctave of Corpus Christi in the church of La Concepción.
At the end, after 9:00 p.m., and with a wonderful sunset in the background, the Magna Procesión del Santísimo began its journey through the streets of the town, accompanied by a shower of petals, until it reached the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where they dedicated a few words and songs to Corpus Christi, which yesterday celebrated its Infraoctave with the same emotion as always.
There, from the balcony of the plenary hall, the bishop of the Diocese of Nivariense, Bernardo Álvarez, proceeded to solemnly bless the Blessed Sacrament, which minutes later returned to his parish.
