Embarcación de Virgen del Carmen
Embarcación de Virgen del Carmen
We had already heard a lot in the run-up to Puerto de la Cruz' most important festivity, the “Embarcación de Virgen del Carmen”. In order to perfectly blend in with the locals, we all bought a T-shirt that showed the image of the Virgen del Carmen. After dancing and partying at the “Sardinada”, local fishermen festivity, the night before, we met on Tuesday the 11th July at 12:00 and headed towards the Plaza del Charco and the harbour.
Arriving there, we immediately got an idea of what was to be expected in the next few hours: hundreds of people – all of them wearing their Virgen del Carmen shirts, shorts, or simply their bathing costumes – had gathered along the dockside. In the water we could see a multitude of nicely decorated boats and all types of water craft – from jet-skis to rubber tyres to air mattresses. Lots of people were swimming and enjoying the chance to cool off, escaping from the burning sun.
We spent the day strolling among the crowd, jumping into the water from the mole, eating delicious tapas and bocadillos and drinking a few beers. Despite the great heat, our clothes and swimsuits never dried out all day long – thanks to a few more jumps into the harbour basin and a great many “beer showers”. It happened quite often that your shirt was hit by the complete contents of a jar – and of course you had to take revenge!
Just around the corner from the main location the younger crowd had gathered. With bongo drums, Mediterranean rythms, far more beer (showers) and waterpistols, the party was much wilder and louder. Just as at the Plaza del Charco, where a group of people had found their perfect party location underneath a balcony, with buckets full of cold water being thrown down on them from the 3rd floor.
Around 6:30 pm the actual festival started. From far away we could see the holy image of San Telmo in a long, dark, velvet cape moving closer to the harbour. It was carried on the shoulders of approximately 12 men and women who moved forward rocking slowly from side to side. Just a few minutes later the fiesta`s main character came into sight. The Virgen del Carmen was carried on an even bigger pedestal, beautifully decorated with huge flower arrangements. Both figures were paraded through the streets after services in their home churches and were now slowly carried in procession towards the waterfront.
It turned out that we were standing at an extraordinarily good spot. The images were carried towards us and stopped in front of a small altar just about 20 metres away. They turned around to face the altar when Chago Melián, a famous Canarian singer, started to sing the “Ave Maria” on a balcony right above the statues. By now, you could see goose pimples everywhere and even a few tears in some people’s eyes.
After Chago Melián had finished his great performance with shouts of “¡Viva la Virgen del Carmen!” with the whole crowd joining in, the Virgen del Carmen and San Telmo turned around again and were carried down to the water. Accompanied by a celebrating and watersplashing crowd, they were put onto two boats and made their way towards open water, escorted by countless small fishing boats.
During a short but traditional incident, a boat from Los Realejos and its crew tried to kidnap the Virgen del Carmen. The story behind this is that Los Realejos and Puerto de la Cruz both ordered a carved image of Carmen at the same time. When they were finished, the people of Puerto thought that the Virgen of Los Realejos was much more beautiful and more handsomely finished – and without further ado they took her home. Of course, the people of Los Realejos couldn`t accept that and ever since have tried to get the statue back – so far without success.
After the boats had left the harbour the party continued, although a bit more quietly than before. A few of us went home to shower and change. Afterwards, we tried to retrieve the rest of the group in the big turmoil. Some went to the neighbouring fairground; the others went back into the crowd and had a few more beers.
After approximately 12 hours of non-stop partying in the burning sun you could slowly feel the tiredness coming through – and having to work or attend a language course at the FU language academy the next morning was at the back of most of our minds. A few perserving individuals among us managed to continue partying until 4 o`clock in the morning, while the rest went home between 12 am and 1 am, tired, a bit tipsy, partly sunburned and smelling like a beer keg.
Not for nothing were we “warned” about this local holiday....it was a great festivity which, besides being a lot of fun, gave us a wonderful insight into the deeply rooted traditions of the Canarios. We surely won`t ever forget this day: ¡Viva la Virgen del Carmen!