He Town Hall of La Orotava and the Artearena Associationresponsible for the design and production of the great Teide land carpet that is made every year in honor of Corpus Christihave strengthened measures to try to protect the great tapestry of the town hall of the storm Oscar. The announcement of winds and showers has turned on the alarm lights in the Villa, where they have been working for weeks on the preparation of the large carpet that has been a symbol of the major festivals since 1919.
The mayor of Fiestas in office, Alexis Pacheco (CC)explained this Monday to EL DÍA that apart from the tents that must protect this ephemeral work of art from bad weather, they have decided to take additional measures to try to prevent, in case of heavy rains, the water can seep into the work of the carpet makers and destroy what has taken weeks to make.
“Because the flooring is new, the old methods of temporarily gluing small barriers onto the tiles can no longer be used. Now we have opted for rubber profiles and sand weights to try to stop the water, if it rains, “says the councilor. Besides, there are gutters to collect water that you can go down the main stairs of the square, which leads to the fountains in the gardens.
Coinciding with the arrival of the storm Oscarthe tents will be closed to try to protect this work of religious art from the wind and water, which this year also offers a social and environmental message, with nods to the fight against cancer, the reuse of plastic waste and those affected by the Tajogaite volcano, on La Palma.
“If it rains normally, nothing will happen, but if we have torrential rains, there is a risk that the carpet will be damaged and if it does, we would have very little time left to try to repair it. Efforts will focus, above all, on in that the central tapestries, which are the most complicated to execute and the ones that require the most time, are not affected by rain or wind», admits Alexis Pacheco.
He Acting Councilor for Festivities remember that “we are working, and praying, so that nothing happens and we can reach the Infraoctave of the Corpus with the carpet in perfect condition, but already at the end of the 90s we had significant rains and what was done was done ».
The carpet should be completely finished to next wednesday june 14just on the eve of the Infraoctave del Corpus, the popular carpet day, which this year is celebrated on Thursday, June 15. There are only 8 days of work leftthat bad weather could complicate this week.
The central element of this year’s design is the monumental tabernacle of the main chapel of the Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, a neoclassical style element that will be 200 years old in 2023. It was built in the workshop of Giuseppe Gaggini in Genoa in the 19th century. On both sides of the tapestry, two of the most revered images of the Villa: San Isidro Labrador and María Auxiliadora.
Queen of the Holidays
The manufacture of the carpet in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento de La Orotava continues, as well as the program of the village festivals. Last weekend, the young representative of the Huerta del Moral Neighborhood Association, Itahisa Llanos González, was elected queen of the festivities. The title of first lady of honor was Paula Rodríguez Pacheco. The rest of the ladies were Itahisa Hernández, Nayara Linares de la Cruz and Ilenia Alonso.
