The streets of the municipality of Tegueste welcomed this Sunday once more thousands of individuals to honour the traditional Romería in honour of San Marcos Evangelista, a festival that highlights customs and rural folklore and signals the beginning of the Romería season across the entire island.
From early morning, locals and visitors gathered around the town square, some accompanied by their livestock, to partake in the solemn Eucharist and witness the saint’s departure from the parish.
With the rhythm of drums and the chácaras of the dance of the flowers, a group of dancers clad in white performed the tajaste around a pole adorned with flowers, initiating the procession through the main streets of the municipality, filled with cheers and celebrations.
The stars of the event were the magnificent floats decorated with various motifs using small roasted seeds, a complex preparation that compels residents to commence arrangements up to four months in advance.
Alongside them, families and groups of friends accompanied the image of the saint, distributing wine, wrinkled potatoes, cotugas, and pellets of gofio to the throngs that filled every corner, seizing the opportunity to capture photographs with the oxen, goats, and donkeys that also took part in the procession.
Once the parade concluded, attendees dispersed in search of shade to escape the intense sun that dominated the day and readied themselves to continue the festivities, which would last until nightfall with the verbena, extending over several months through the pilgrimages of various towns across the island.
