The Camino Real de La Verdellada is a long route without excessive traffic. There are usually few vehicles parked there and few pedestrians. On the other hand, yesterday, after 7:00 p.m., there was a traffic jam (and it continued until the Vía de Ronda), all the parking lots were occupied and dozens of people in disguise made a particular pilgrimage to Pueblo Hinojosa. This example serves to put in context the dimension of the Halloween celebration that takes place in this urbanization located between Finca España and La Verdellada.
The residents of this area decorate their homes abundantly every year until they characterize them for this date. Spider webs, ghosts, witches, skeletons, lights… Nothing to envy a neighborhood of USA. And it only took getting dark for it to start to burst, especially the central streets of the urbanization. The place became a sociological thermometer of the strength that this event is increasingly charging, with children, parents and even grandmothers in disguise. Ghosts, witches and other compositions that were impossible to decipher, at least for a layman, gathered there.
“We came because at school they told him about Halloween and he was excited, and we have some friends who live nearby,” explained José Carlos Díaz, who was walking with his nine-year-old son from Finca España. “We were going to park on the embankment that is near Las Palmeras avenue, in front of La Llovizna, but it was bursting and I ended up leaving the car on a street that I didn’t look at or what it’s called,” he said. “Let’s see if I can find it later”he joked.
An appointment that keeps
“The parents of some of his classmates live in Finca España and they told us to come all together here, because they have a good time,” explained Estefanía, a mother. “We’re from Taco, so it’s relatively close to us,” she added. For his part, another father celebrated that the appointment had continued. “I get the feeling that this started with the children of the first families that lived here and, although many are older, it continues,” he said. “It is admirable,” she said.
Official sources of the Local Police of La Laguna indicated that on the occasion of Halloween a special operation was activated to reinforce the ordinary service. Except for this enclave and some other specific point, the strength of this celebration in La Laguna is not really excessive, although it is undoubtedly greater than years ago. The weekend, and especially on the night from Saturday to Sunday, had already taken the form of parties in private homes in different neighborhoods. Last night, the eve of a holiday, the music also betrayed some private acts of this type.
Although on a smaller scale, La Verdellada stands out, which, after the break due to covid, resumed Halloween yesterday and turned the Citizen Center into a house of terror. According to its organizers, this has been the case since the 1990s. In this regard, they pointed out that the La Verdellada Youth Association (Ajuve) «has once again involved adults and young people to work as a team, not just for decoration and transformation of the Citizen Center, but also for everyone to collaborate as extras in a night that will be terrifyingly fun». The celebration was scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. with a chocolate drink and a children’s costume contest in the square. Between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. would be the time to visit the house of terror, while at 8:00 p.m. the children would collect candy.
Regarding local costumbrismo -the other side of these dates-, the City Council reported that Finados is being presented today, a theatrical performance that aims to recover the Canarian traditions of the Night of the Dead and that tries to value the traditional culture of the islands linked to this day. It will be from 7:00 p.m., with free admission until full capacity, in the old convent of Santo Domingo.
