A small rock in the Atlantic

Fire fiesta on La Palma

Witches dancing on the beach on St John's feast, at Puerto Naos, Los Llanos, La Palma _Island

Thursday is the feast of St John the Baptist. On La Palma, they have the very sensible custom of holding the party on the night before the public holiday, so that everyone can sleep late the morning after. Since fiestas often go on until the early hours, sleeping in next morning is delicious.

In Catholic countries, people celebrate the feast of St John with bonfires. (Any similarity to pagan midsummer festivals is purely coincidental.) On Wednesday night, there are traditionally lots of small, private bonfires, although many of these are banned this year because the wether's unusually hot and so there's a risk of starting a major forest fire. However, the bigger fires will go ahead. Traditionally these are at: San Andrés y Sauces, San Juan Belmaco (Malpaíses in Mazo)and El Remo (in Fuencaliente), and in Puerta Naos (Los Llanos), the witches will dance round a bonfire on the beach.

On Thursday, there will be special church services in Puntallana (main village), and Belmaco in Malpais, Mazo. And Astrotour will be holding a free star party at San Antonio volcano visitors' centre from 7 pm until midnight, where you'll be able to see the surface of the sun (safely!) find out how to make a sundial, how to find your way using shadows, myths and legends, observation with telescopes and more.

Labels: fuencaliente, Los Llanos, Mazo, Puerta Naos, San Andres y Sauces, San Juan.

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Carnival Programme for the weekend

Saturday 12th March
Santa Cruz de la Palma
All day long, music will be performed in various parts of the town to entertain passersby. Workshops, bouncy castles and festivals for the little ones. Performance by DJ Hanfry Martinez and various DJs from the Academia Red Bull.
10:00-12:00h. children's games in the plaza de la Alameda.
12:00 h. VI Festival Orillas del Son «Fiesta Cubana», with music from Cristina and Carmelina Barveris with samples of traditional Cuban food and drink, in the plaza de la Alameda.
17:00-22:00 h. Fancy dress dance with the Orquesta Ritmo, with a prize for the best costume and an adult piñata in the plaza de la Alameda.
22:00 h. public dance at the carnival stage, with the Orquestas “Salsaludando” and “Arena Caliente”.

Los Llanos

11.00 hrs. Serious percussion and carnival krewes at the Plaza de España and Aledaños

From 13.00 hrs. Public dance and kiosks at the carnival stage

Sunday 13th March
Santa Cruz de la Palma

18:00 h. Children's Festival organised and presented by the group Saltarines Animación Infantil y Espectáculos, with a prize for the best child's costume of Carnival 2011, at the carnival stage, with performances by children's groups.

20:00 h. Big public dance with a performance by the well-known Arturo del Castillo, eat the carnival stage.

Labels: Carnival, carnival programme, Los Llanos, Los Sauces, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma

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Where's the Village Gone?

Tourists sometimes go nuts trying to find the village of Breña Baja, or Fuencaliente.

There's a really simple reason why they can't find them. They don't exist. Breña Baja and Fuencaliente are municipalities, and their town halls are in the villages of San Jose and Los Canarios, respectively. It like driving all over the south east of England, looking for the town of Sussex.

The map shows the 14 municipalities (in blue) , with their administrative seats (in pink). Where
there's no name in pink, the municipalities are named after their chief villages, which makes things simpler. Just to keep things interesting, one, San Andrés y Sauces, is named after the two biggest villages. The town hall is in Los Sauces, which is much bigger and on the main road.

That's easy to find.

Labels: Barlovento, Breña Alta, Breña Baja, El Paso, fuencaliente, Garafia, La Palma, Los Llanos, Mazo, municipalities, Puntagorda, puntallana, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Tazacorte, tijarafe

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An Octupus and a Sardine

Poster for the Octopus's Funeral, Los Cancajos, La Palma Island

The Octopus's funeral has been rescheduled for Friday 26th.

The procession will leave the pharmacy at 8 pm and make its way to the beach, where the octopus will be cremated. There will be fireworks and dancing. Everybody welcome.
This is a new fiesta, so it'll be interesting to see

Meanwhile the sardine's funeral at Los Sauces will take place on Saturday 27th. The percussion music starts at 8 pm and the funeral procession starts at 9:30 pm in the main square by the church. Last time I saw it, it was wonderful.

And I believe that Barlovento will hold their sardine's funeral the weekend after, on March 5th or 6th. Watch this space.

Poster for the Sardine's Funeral, Los Sauces, La PAlma island

Labels: Breña Baja, Cancajos, carnival programme, fiesta, La Palma, Los Sauces, San Andres y Sauces, Sardine's Funeral

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San Andres

The Square, San Andres, La Palma

San Andres is a very pretty little village in the northeast of La Palma. From Santa Cruz, you take the main road north until you're almost at Los Sauces, and then take the little road down towards the coast (yes, it's signposted).

The church was built in the early 17th century, when La Palma was rich from transatlantic trade. It's supposed to be beautiful inside, with two particularly good Flemish statues. Unfortunately every time I've been there, it's been shut. But there are lots of lovely old houses (it was the first part of the region to be settled after the conquest) and the square is particularly delightful.

Even better, there are two restaurants and a bar, all nearby. So you can admire the view while you eat. The restaurant on the lower level serves very nice fresh fish. I haven't tried the one higher up (with the red parasols) but a friend tells me they do very good tapas.

Old lime kiln, San Andres, La Palma

There's a footpath running north along the coast from the village to Charco Azul and Puerto Espíndola. One of the first thing you see is this limn kiln, which is being restored. At one time, everybody painted the insides of their water tanks with lime to kill off the bugs, and most people painted the outside of their houses with lime, too.

The path is paved, and smooth enough for a wheelchair or pushchair, but the climb back up into San Andres is steep, and I think it would be rather hard work.

Last time I went along the path, we found this baby gecko (Tarentola delalandii). Since the adults are about 6" (15 cm) long, it must have hatched very recently. Good luck to it - they're on the red list of threatened species.

Baby gecko, Charco Azul, La Palma

Labels: Charco Azul, food, gecko, Puerto Espindola, San Andres, San Andres y Sauces, Tarentola delalandii

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Footpath from Charco-Azul to Puerto Espindola

Map showing location of Charco Azul,La Palma, Canary Islands

La Palma has a nice, new seaside footpath, which runs from Charco-Azul to Puerto Espindola, in the municipality of San Andres and Sauces. It's been under construction for some time. My friends in Franceses went along to see how it was progressing, and found themselves in the middle of the official opening.

Seaside footpath at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands

Seaside footpath at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands

Footpath from Charco Azul to Puerto Espindola. Photo: Helen Bennett

Charco Azul has salt-water swimming pools, rather like Piscinas la Fajana, although they're still not open after a rock slide during the winter. At one time, Puerto Espindola was a working port, mostly exporting the agricultural produce of the borough. Now it's mostly a fishing port.

The walk also goes past an old lime kiln. Lime was important, because everybody used it to whitewash their houses and water tanks.

Lime Kiln at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands

Lime Kiln at Charco Azul, La Palma, Canary Islands

Lime Kiln near Puerto Espindola. Photo: Helen Bennett

Labels: Charco Azul, Footpath, La Palma, Puerto Espindola, San Andres y Sauces

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Where's the village gone?

Tourists sometimes go nuts trying to find the village of Breña Baja, or Fuencaliente.

There's a really simple reason why they can't find them. They don't exist. Breña Baja and Fuencaliente are municipalities, and their town halls are in the villages of San Jose and Los Canarios, respectively. It like driving all over the south east of England, looking for the town of Sussex.

The map shows the 14 municipalities (in blue) , with their administrative seats (in pink). Where
there's no name in pink, the municipalities are named after their chief villages, which makes things simpler. Just to keep things interesting, one, San Andrés y Sauces, is named after the two biggest villages. The town hall is in Los Sauces, which is much bigger and on the main road.

That's easy to find.

Labels: Barlovento, Breña Alta, Breña Baja, Canaries, Canary, El Paso, fuencaliente, Garafía, La Palma, municipalities, Puntagorda, puntallana, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma, tijarafe

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Flags Galore

You see a lot of flags on La Palma. Most English visitors will recognise the flags of Spain and the European Union.

But the Canary Islands are an autonomous region within Spain, and they have their own flag too. You see it a lot, especially around May 30th, which is Canary Day.