Many pilgrims came yesterday to candlemas to fulfill a promise, to attend mass, to make an offering or simply to take a picture in front of the little brunette. With fewer visitors than other August 15 – this time the arrival was more spaced due to the long weekend, the bridge and the heat, which forced the closing of the trails-, in Villa Mariana scenes of emotion were relived, with hugs and kisses when pilgrims arrived by bus or on foot reached the throne of the Patron saint of the Canary Islands.
A feeling that some say goes beyond religiousness, which has a lot to do with the unquestionable ancestry that this image found by the Guanches more than 600 years ago has had and still has on the Canarian settlers.
The political, military and ecclesiastical authorities did not miss the appointment; Among the former, many took office after the last local elections and the consequent signed pacts. Fernando Clavijo returned four years later as president of the Government of the Canary Islands and representing the King. “This is always a special date for all canaries. I always like to come and be able to have that little moment of recollection and ask the Virgin to give us wisdom, to give us health and strength to face the challenges that lie ahead,” Clavijo said after finishing the bishop’s mass.
Mari Brito, the mayoress of Candelaria, was excited after concluding the procession of the Virgin through the square, pointing out that “they are going to be very intense parties -because there is still the eighth-, but also exciting and beautiful, like that night of the 14th with the arrival of thousands of pilgrims through the Old Highway, following the recommendations given by the authorities, showing the faith and devotion that the Canarians have for the Patroness. I have to thank the good behavior of all those pilgrims who have arrived in Candelaria, which once again has proven to be the home of all Canarians, especially these days when we strengthen those bonds of unity and Canarian identity”.
Also present were the new presidents of the Parliament and the Council of Tenerife, Astrid Pérez and Rosa Dávila, respectively, as well as deputies, councilors and mayors of Tenerife municipalities.
