The streets of Tegueste welcomed thousands of attendees this Sunday for the traditional pilgrimage honouring San Marcos Evangelista. This annual festivity celebrates local customs and rural folklore, marking the commencement of the Romerías season across the island.
Residents and visitors started gathering around the town square early in the morning, some bringing their livestock, to witness the solemn Eucharist and the departure of the saint from the parish.
Accompanied by the rhythm of drums and the chácaras from the dance of the flowers, a group of dancers clad in white performed the tajaste around a pole adorned with flowers, signalling the start of the procession through the main streets of the municipality, filled with cheers and celebrations.
The highlight of the event was the impressive, ornately decorated floats, designed using small roasted seeds in a highly intricate preparation that requires neighbours to commence work up to four months in advance.
Surrounding these floats, families and groups of friends accompanied the image of the saint, distributing wine, wrinkled potatoes, cotugas, and pellets of gofio to the throngs of people who filled every corner, eager to snap photos with the oxen, goats, and donkeys that also took part in the procession.
Once the procession concluded, attendees dispersed in search of shade to escape the intense sun that dominated the day, preparing to continue the festivities that would extend into the night with the verbena, a celebration that would persist for several months through the pilgrimages of various towns across the island.
