The Pico de Tejina and Valle de Guerra will celebrate the first pilgrimages of La Laguna allowed since the COVID appeared in 2019, specifically, on May 7 and 15, respectively, as confirmed yesterday by the councilor of Town Hall festivitiesBadel Albelo.
The mayor recalled that the one on May 7 at El Pico de Tejina is more of a pilgrimage, since there are no cattle, but there are cars and parrandas, and the following weekend will be their magicians’ dance, in honor of Saint Isidro Labrador. While in Valle de Guerra the magician’s dance is celebrated first and then, on May 15, its pilgrimage, in honor of San Isidro Labrador and Santa María de La Cabeza, thus recovering a tradition that in 2019 celebrated its 70th anniversary and that in the last two years it has had to be carried out virtually and from the neighbors’ balconies. These will be followed this year, in chronological order, by the pilgrimages of Las Mercedes, Guamasa and San Benito.
The City Council of La Laguna announced yesterday that it has decided to establish a fixed price for the teams and carts that participate this year in the main pilgrimages of the municipality. The mayor, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, indicates that this measure is intended to apply “a fair and equitable criterion, without varying from one party to another, in order to encourage participation in these popular festivities so deeply rooted in the lagoon people, which we must protect and promote because it is a sign of our identity”.
With the lifting of most of the restrictions due to the pandemic, which gives free rein to street celebrations, the Councilor for Fiestas has held a meeting with the member of the Tenerife Livestock Association (Agate), Santiago Cacho, to deal with the conditions in which the most traditional appointments of the municipality will be held in this new stage of a certain normality.
Among the issues discussed with the representative of the organization, the establishment of a single rate for those who want to participate, “with their teams, carts and other transport, such as boats, in the pilgrimages of Valle de Guerra, Las Mercedes , Guamasa and San Benito, according to the chronological order of the calendar of this 2022”.
After “verifying that until now there was no specific criterion to determine the amount to pay for registration, which caused differences from one party to another”, Badel Albelo announced that “we have decided to set a unit price for these four celebrations, with the idea of adding value, expanding and maintaining the festivities”.
The regulation of the rate is one of the aspects agreed with Agate for this edition, in which parrandas, folk groups, guayeros, pilgrims and pilgrims will be able to return to the streets after these more than two years of pandemic. “It is the first time in history that a collaboration agreement like this has been promoted by the City Council,” said the mayor, who expects it to be signed in the coming days, “once the last fringes are finished, to ensure the good development of this tradition so deeply rooted in the lagoon people”.
Among the conditions for participation with carts for this 2022, there is also the obligation to have civil liability insurance and the limitation of the number of people per cart, who must also pass the relevant inspection. On the other hand, Badel Albelo indicated that “the criteria of the good image and presence of the guayeros will be taken into account, as well as the parameters of animal welfare.”
