The Archinech de Tinajo Easter Rancho Cultural Association celebrated the "XXXIII Encuentro de Ranchos de Pascua" last Saturday night. The chosen place was the church of San Roque, which was filled, making it clear that in Tinajo they support and maintain an ancestral tradition that the passage of time has not managed to forget.
The event was presided over by the parish priest of the town, Francisco José García, who from the first moment that the management of the Archinech Rancho informed him of the day and time to carry out the meeting, did not resist in any way for it to be held inside the parish church of the patron saint San Roque.
This edition featured the Rancho from the municipality of Tías, the Rancho from Tiscamanita in Fuerteventura, and the Archinech organizers from Tinajo. The Easter Ranchos began their journey as Ranchos de Ánimas and were introduced to the Canary Islands by the Franciscans in the 16th century. They are made up of a large group of people who traveled through the towns singing their songs, often mournful songs that remembered the deceased. These groups arose from the brotherhoods in which the faithful prayed and celebrated masses for the souls, with the conviction that doing so helped them to leave purgatory.
Currently, the Easter Ranchos are mainly concentrated in the eastern islands, while in the western islands they have preserved groups known as "Lo Divino", very similar to the Easter Ranchos and which probably have the same origin.
The three Ranchos participating in the XXXIII Meeting performed the most representative Christmas songs such as El Corrido, La Contradanza, Endecha, Lo Divino or El Zapateo. The audience in each of their interventions rewarded them with prolonged applause. Urbano Hernández, director of the Archinech Easter Rancho, was very happy with the response from the public, thanking them for their attendance with the hope of returning in future editions.