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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St. John's bonfires

In Spain it's traditional to have a bonfire to mark the feast of St John the Baptist, on the night of June 23rd. There are lots of private bonfires on La Palma, and some people use the occasion to have a good clear out and burn the rubbish. Several beaches hold bonfire parties, too. And I'm told that in some cases there's nude bathing.

I don't know about you, but to me, bonfires and nude bathing at midsummer sounds a good deal older than Christianity.

But in Puerto Naos they add their own twist. A covern of witches appears at about 10:30 pm and dances around bonfire. Then they chase the children (who love it, of course).

I asked this lady for a curse on my boss, but she said that they're all good witches, and they don't do curses, ever, even for bosses.

Which is a good thing, seeing as I'm self-employed.

Labels: bonfire, Midsummer, San Juan., St. John the Baptist

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Spot the Lava Flow

Just north of Fatima, El Paso

Ladies and gentlemen, can you spot the lava flow in this picture?

This lava flow at Fatima in El Paso is from the eruption of Volcan San Juan (St. John's volcano) in 1949, but the whole island is volcanic. And, geologically speaking, it's still in nappies.

The very oldest rocks on the island formed as a submarine volcano, some 3 three million years ago. Of course most of it's buried deep, but if you know where to look, there's a little patch of it you can see in the Barranco de las Angustias (the big ravine that drains the Caldera). Apart from that, the northern end is the oldest, at a mere 1,500,000 years old. Most of the south is younger, at 700,000 years old, give or take. And just to confuse the tourists, the Cumbre Vieja (old ridge) is younger than the Cumbre Nueva (New Ridge).

And the youngest bit of the island is Playa Nueva which means (very) New Beach. It was formed when Teneguía erupted from October 26th to November 28th in 1971. It's just 37 years old - younger than I am. Luckily the eruption only killed one person, an old man who got too close and suffocated. My husband was a teenager and remembers it well. You could here the rumbling from Breña Baja, and the whole family went to see the show from the higher volcano of San Antonio.

Today, plants are just beginning to colonise the area near the cone, and the red rocks make the surrounding area look like Mars (See Which Planet Are You On? ).

Labels: 1949, El Paso, La Palma, La Plama, lava, lava flow, San Juan., volcanos