Nine municipalities in Tenerife receive grants from the Cabildo to organize their own craft fairs. The total amount of the subsidy is 75,000 euros, with a maximum of 10,000 per municipality. Its goal is to promote and commercialize a sector that involves around 150 licensed professionals, although there are many more, up to 600, connected in some way with manual work in the 87 traditional crafts cataloged on the island. This subsidy line was published a few days ago in the Official Bulletin of the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The Minister of Employment and Education, as well as the alma mater of the island’s artisan sector, Efraín Medina, explains that “we aim to promote the work done by craft professionals”. He emphasizes the idea that “these types of fairs allow them to showcase their work to the entire public, not just the citizens of the Metropolitan Area where they are usually organized”.
Commercialization
Medina highlights: “Another of our fundamental objectives is to encourage commercialization, quality, and innovation of craft products throughout the island’s geography.” In total, nine municipalities benefit from this financial contribution, including Los Silos, Santa Úrsula, Garachico, Arafo, La Matanza de Acentejo, El Tanque, Tegueste, Guía de Isora, and Buenavista del Norte. The amount varies from a minimum of 4,800 euros up to a maximum of 10,000 depending on the needs demanded by each council.
The grants are intended for the installation of non-permanent or rented infrastructures for the booths where the artisan exhibitors will be located, as well as their furniture and other necessary infrastructure elements for the fair setup. It also covers advertising and stationery, which will include the design, printing, and distribution of the announcement poster and other graphic material related to the fair, creation of banners, and contracting of event advertising spots and advertising on social media.
The financial injection also includes the cost of security or surveillance of the event venue during the days of the artisan meeting, at night, including the day before and after the event if necessary, and lastly, the activities during the days of the event and opening.
Seven major fairs await the island’s artisans in the second half of the year in Tenerife, around 150, who are masters in the 87 cataloged crafts. Interested parties can register for one of these events, still without a fixed date, until next June 9.
The Cabildo opens the registration period for these sector meetings that will take place in six municipalities until early 2026, offering about 250 slots in total to accommodate many artisan stands.
Specifically, it features the V Puerto de la Cruz Craft Market, scheduled for early July; the III Patron Saint of Canary Islands Fair in Candelaria municipality in early August; the III Craft Fair in El Sauzal in mid-August; the XIV Insular Craft Fair of Adeje in November; the II Christmas Market in Puerto de la Cruz during the November bridge, and finally, in 2026, from January 2 to 5, two traditional events coinciding in dates: the XXVIII Craft Fair on Kings Day in Santa Cruz) and the XVII Christmas Craft Market in La Laguna.
The joint call for the selection of artisans to participate in these fairs is open from May 26 and until the next day 9.
The Cart
The most recent initiative of the Insular Craft Company is an original tribute to the traditional carts, which later evolved into kiosks and to their peculiar construction. Specifically, to those of the Villa de La Orotava and focused on one of its most beloved figures, Eusebio Delgado Luis, known as Eusebio the cart man. It will take place next Thursday, the 12th, at 8:30 PM at the Ibero-American Craft Museum of Tenerife (MAIT) in La Orotava, organized by the Cultural Collective La Escalera.
A very special event and an opportunity – entry is free with prior reservation with limited seats until full capacity is reached – to see that craftsmanship is very much alive in Tenerife.
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