La Palma: Semana Santa!

#lapalma #islascanarias #semanasanta

Our last stop on the little family vacation over Easter Break was the island of La Palma, another "small and calm" island in the west. However, it's not nearly as calm as El Hierro. :D We stayed in Santa Cruz de La Palma, the capital city filled with picturesque balconies, cobblestone alleys, and ocean views.

We landed in the La Palma airport and managed to navigate the most confusing parking garage yet to find our rental. Then, we walked around the city for a little while until we could check into our AirBNB. It was a beautiful sunny day to wander through the port town and we saw lots of mountains, colorful houses, and plazas, many of which I remembered from my time here during Los Indianos in March.

After getting into our AirBNB, we drove all over the island on extremely twisty roads (every island seemed to get twistier and twistier!) to get to a cultural park with mysterious rock carvings left from the first people on the island, the Bimbaches. The drive was beautiful, going through mountains, past churches, and next to seemingly endless banana farms. The carvings were neat as well, large circular spirals cut into the rock! However, the signage could certainly use some help – we spent about ten minutes scouring a rock for a carving before realizing the sign was just telling us a carving was coming up in a few minutes.

It was a lovely day driving through nature, though! Lots of green, some blooming flowers, and towering mountains. By the end of the drive, we were beat and we took a much-needed descanso (rest).

We walked through town a bit more on the way to dinner, and took in the picturesque streets. The town was preparing for Good Friday the next day, so there were lots of people rushing around preparing for the big event in the main church plaza.

A highlight of our time in La Palma was seeing some Holy Week parades! I have seen these once before, when I was studying abroad in Burgos, Spain during college. But I never expected to see them here, and my parents have never seen anything like it! This tradition dates back to the Spanish Inquisition, which makes sense, because seeing these ominous figures walking towards you would certainly make you want to repent and convert NOW. Lots of them were carrying crosses and several were barefoot and had real chains on their ankles, dragging menacingly across the cobblestones, clinking with every step.

The processions also included marching bands playing somber music, widows dressed all in black, and giant stone statues of Jesus dying on the cross and of the Virgin Mary holding her son's body, carried by about a dozen strong men, switching out every now and then when one nearly passes out.

We spent most of the day wandering around the city, seeing the (very windy!) black sand beach that had been closed off last time I was there, having absolutely delicious Venezuelan food, and taking in the sights of "la isla bonita" (the beautiful island).

We also saw another procession, during the hottest part of the day, with figures dressed all in black. Super cool!

When we went out that evening, we saw yet another procession! We had tapas and wine for our last dinner together here. :)

We also caught the end of one final procession going into the church after dinner that night.

The next morning, I flew back to El Hierro (via Tenerife, because there is still no direct flight even though it's one of the closest islands to me D:) and my parents took the Fred Olsen ferry back to Tenerife to make their journey home.

It was a great trip filled with stunning views, delicious food, interesting parades, and much more!

¡Hasta la próxima!