The royal mayor, Manuel Domínguez (PP), and the Councilor for Culture, Isabel Socorro (PP), presented this Friday, October 15, 2021 at the Cultural Space of the Casa de la Parra a program that will offer a maximum capacity of 40 people per activity. In the days prior to the celebration of All Saints’ Day and the Canarian traditions of deceased and Ranchos de Animas, Los Realejos will offer screenings, conferences, a thematic route guided by Las Vueltas de Tigaiga and different musical proposals in settings as unusual as three cemeteries in Icod el Alto, El Mocán and Realejo Bajo. Registrations are open on the Realejos Cultural Facebook page and on that of the Los Realejos Town Hall, as well as in the municipal website and the online ticketing platform Tickety.es.
Isabel Socorro He detailed in his appearance that “all activities will be free, but as they have limited capacity due to the preventive measures of Covid-19 infections, it is still required to reserve seats in advance.” Manuel Dominguez, he clarified that “the evolution of the pandemic on the island in recent weeks is allowing, fortunately, a progressive unblocking of cultural activity, which allows the mysterious Realejos to resume with more audiences and fewer limitations.”
The programming will begin on Tuesday, October 26, starting at 7:00 p.m., with the conference Occult Sciences: Mysticism and the Spirit, by the astrocosmologist Henry Lam Avila. It will be at the Casa de La Parra Cultural Space. A new conference will be offered at the same place and time on Wednesday 27, this time by the historian Joaquin Carreras Navarro, under the title Souls in popular culture. This second conference focuses on the traditions of the Archipelago, linked to the cults of death.
Until the seventeenth century, approximately, there were groups throughout Spain that were dedicated to asking for the souls of the deceased. His main objective was to maintain the pious cult for the people who died. The so-called ranch of souls He went through the towns singing and collecting money, which they then gave to the Church, in order to have masses celebrated in memory of those who are no longer there, according to the Foundation for Ethnography and the Development of Canarian Crafts.
On Thursday, October 28, also at 7:00 p.m. and at the House of La Parra, the documentary will be screened Witches of Tenoby Gyester Regalado and Beatriz Fariña. This audiovisual work collects testimonies from elders of nuclei such as Las Portelas or Teno Alto, who recall stories of witches and other mysteries preserved thanks to oral tradition. On Friday, October 29, the cycle will close with a new conference, Flights, meetings, evils and bugs. The case of Jerónima de la Vega, the witch girl, by the historian Gustavo Trujillo Yáñez, which will focus on this case of a minor from Tejeda, in Gran Canaria, who was accused of witchcraft at just ten years old in 1805.
On Saturday, October 30, a guided thematic route is offered along the path from Icod el Alto to Realejo Bajo, known for The Laps, which will depart at 5:30 p.m. and will allow you to learn about the many mysteries and legends related to this royal area. On the same day, at the Casa de la Cultura, the Acorán Folk Group will offer his show In the name of the Father … amen.
As in previous editions, The Mysterious Realejos It will conclude with a curious and pioneering initiative: the finalized concerts, which on October 31 will bring live music to the three cemeteries of the municipality. They will be in charge of Brass Quintet Pentaphonies, which will perform at 4:00 p.m. at the San Antonio cemetery, in the center of Icod el Alto; at 5:30 p.m. at the San Agustín Cemetery, in the El Mocán area, and at 7:00 p.m. at the San Francisco Cemetery, in Realejo Bajo.
A guide to mysteries
The Los Realejos Mystery Guide, published in 2016, is once again up-to-date with this new edition of Los Realejos Misterioso. In its 65 pages it collects stories, legends and supernatural and unusual tales, with protagonists as diverse as El Perrete, El Bicho del Barranco de Godínez or the omnipresent girl on the curve. This work by Manuel Jesús Hernández González, illustrated by Samuel Hernández, was conceived to attract visitors interested in these stories so as not to sleep where there is no shortage of witches, ghosts, UFOs or strange noises. One of the protagonists of this mystery is El Perrete, a way of calling the devil himself, who was said to be hiding “behind Mount Teide.” This name was especially given to the “demon who appropriated people and their souls.” To avoid this, a popular saying is still pronounced on Holy Thursday, after the one hundred creeds are prayed: “Satan, cursed dog / You don’t have to see about me / that on Holy Thursday night / I prayed my hundred creeds.” But this guide also recalls fears and stories that had media coverage, such as the famous bug from Los Realejos, which was talked about and written so much in the 70s of the 20th century. Or the story of the girl on the curve, which is repeated in countless cases and is one of the best known urban legends. Or the controversial Marian apparition on the mountain above La Corona, on the slope of Tigaiga, in June 1992
