The City Council of Candelaria, in Tenerife, is already immersed in its festivities in honor of the Virgen del Carmen and Santa Ana after two years of parenthesis due to the pandemicwith a significant novelty: it has decided dispense with the election gala of the Adult Queen. And it is not the only municipality of Canary Islands that rebels against this type of beauty pageants.
As in many other contests that are held in various locations in the Canary Islandsparticularly in Carnival (but not only), at the Candelaria gala several candidates competed for obtain the titles of queen and maid of honorawarded by a jury that rewarded them based on their physical characteristics and skills on stage.
The mayor of Candelaria, Mari Brito (PSOE), defends that the decision not to continue with that type of contest has been “complicated and brave”.
What do you think that beauty pageants are eliminated from parties?
He argues that the administration he leads, which is committed to fight for equality and breaking stereotypesshould not promote a beauty competition between girls before a committee that qualifies them for their physical conditions, leaving out a majority that does not meet the established canons.
Despite this, Brito remarks that Candelaria will continue “promoting the fashion shows with more participation and diversityas well as the industry and professionals in the sector, but without labeling anyone as the most beautiful”.
Regarding the budget dedicated to this event, the mayor has indicated that the corporation she heads considers it more correct to allocate it to work with local youth on education programs that prevent discriminationeating disorders or sexist violence. Likewise, she points out that with this decision they do not seek to “question that these contests are held in other places”, but to proceed according to their “conscience as a woman and mayor of the 21st century”.
Candelaria is not the only -nor the first- Canarian municipality that has stopped choose the queen of parties.
tuineje, in Fuerteventurasaid “no” to the holding beauty pageants in 2020, after the meeting of the municipal plenary session in which it was decided to eliminate them from the calendar of festive events.
Said resolution, supported by the four municipal groups present at the time (CC, PP, Municipal Assemblies of Fuerteventura and PSOE), has affected the Youth Week, where Miss and mister galas are no longer held.
Araceli Montes (PSOE), Councilor for Equality of the Municipality of Tuinejeexplained to Efe that they consider that “this type of event, in which beauty is the only judgment, contributes to the objectification of women and to generate ideals, above all, in the young population”.
For this reason, it defends that the institutions “cannot be complicit in this type of event”, indicating that its elimination “means one more step to achieve real equality between people, affecting both female and male contests”.
Likewise, Montes values Candelaria’s initiative to include the list of localities that withdraw this type of ceremonies.
Another example is found in the municipality of Santa Cruz de The Palmspecifically in its Lustral Festivities, where the last edition -held in 2020- did not have the adult and child queen elections.
In 2019, the Governing Council of the Autonomous Organization of the Descent of the Virgin of La Palma – dependent on the City Council – held a series of meetings as a result of receiving complaints from citizens and associations that considered this type of contest as denigrating and offensive acts against the image of women.
In this way, after an affirmative vote by the Council, it was recorded in the minutes that this event would not be held in the following parties, so that, in those held in 2020, the election was not held.
In the next parties -which will take place in 2025- as reported to Efe from the local corporation, it will be the Council itself that determines whether this contest continues to be dispensed with or a new vote is held to determine their future
