Today, to help our Abama residents and visitors delve even further into island culture, we invite you to enjoy one of the best Tenerife celebrations: the upcoming Day of the Canary Islands. Discover the music, dancing, and traditional sports that form part of the history of the community that surrounds our Tenerife resort.
It’s been 36 years since the constitution of the Canary Islands Parliament, and this Thursday, the 30th of May, will be a holiday on the islands. It’s the perfect day to absorb all the rites and customs that make this region unique. If it’s the first time you’ve heard the words “golete” or “arrastre”, read on to understand what else you should learn about the community of which our luxury homes in Tenerife form part.
The XII National Canary Islands Martial Arts Championships
Beginning at 11am on the 30th of May, Santa Úrsula plaza, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, will be the host of a competition for three different types of Canary Islands martial arts. Practiced by the indigenous people of the islands, the garrote uses large, thick sticks; the tolete uses sticks of a smaller size; and mano is hand-to-hand combat. The twelfth edition of this martial arts competition serves to recall, in a way, the continuous tribal warfare that went on among the ancient island peoples in order to gain control of the best crops or more fertile land, to settle conflicts among neighbours or to try to beat back the pirates and buccaneers that constantly harassed the population.
XVI Regional Arrastre Competition
At midday, in the Casa del Ganadero in La Laguna, tradition takes the form of races between cows and oxen. Harking back to the time before modern machinery, the animals will be yoked with farming implements and will drag sacks weighing hundreds of kilos. The Basta cow, an autochthonous species from the Canary Islands, is one of the best competitors in these types of events, and still bred in several rural areas on the island.
Music, dance, and comedy
If you prefer musical entertainment, at four o’clock in the afternoon the plaza of Candelaria will bring together the best Tenerife professionals from 37 different bands in the Concert of the Federation of Musical Bands of Tenerife. There are sure to be moving moments, as in the last edition, when 200 musicians played the Hymn of the Canary Islands in unison from different places on each of the Fortunate Isles. At 8 p.m. Los Gofiones and Los Sabandeños will take over. These true standard-bearers of traditional Canary Islands music have played well beyond the borders of the islands: in Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the United States, and various Latin American countries. The last performer of the evening will be Kike Pérez, who takes the stage at nine.
As you see, the Day of the Canary Islands will provide a golden opportunity this 30th of May to learn a bit more about the region in which Abama Resort is located. If you travel to Santa Cruz de Tenerife or La Laguna, don’t stop at the official acts. Combine them with a delicious local cheese or some papas arrugadas with mojo. Folklore and the best Tenerife culinary delights will be the perfect combination for a day with your family or friends that feels truly complete and sheds new light on Tenerife culture.
