Tiagua is already preparing to celebrate the XLVII hand-pelota match of the Socorro festivities this coming Saturday, September 6th at 5:00 PM.
The matches began in the summer of 1978 when a group of former players who had been playing to revive the game during the months of July and August. On September 10, 1978, that match was played in Tiagua, for its patron saint festivities.
The match was not held in the old pelota court because it was on the road from Tiagua to Tinajo, due to the high number of cars. In the past, few cars passed by, and when a car came, they would step aside and let the vehicle pass, then return to the game. The pelota court was from the area of Pancho Armas' mill to the corner of Manuela Mesa Díaz's house (now Guanarteme Avenue). The match we are referring to was played on a new pelota court, in front of Juan Bonilla's house (now Achamán Street), and it was played there for several years.
In that match, the famous punch was also revived, a typical drink in the hand-pelota game, made with rum, water, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon peel.
The participating players were: Cayetano Tavío (Teguise), Nicasio Acuña (Teguise), Benigno Rodríguez (Muñique), Juan Guillen (La Vegueta), Juan Bonilla (Tiagua), Pepe Guerra (Tiagua), Feliciano Hernández (Tiagua), Manuel Arbelo (Soo), Julián Martín (Soo), Francisco Betancor (Soo), José Cáceres (Soo), Antonio Rojas (Soo), José de León (Arrecife), Víctor Bonilla (Arrecife), Manuel Betancor (Liyo) (Arrecife).
Old players from the town, such as the good bouncer Domingo Cabrera, the brothers Agustín, Juan Hernández, Andrés Mesa, etc., were watching the match.
The first written news about hand-pelota in Lanzarote appears in a notarial protocol of Lanzarote in 1596. It refers to a tribute on some houses in Teguise that were on the
royal street next to the pelota court.
The pelota suffers a decline in the mid-20th century, only on the island of Lanzarote it was maintained sporadically, in Teguise, Tiagua and Soo.
The game is practiced on a pelota court (field) of earth sixty steps long by eight wide, divided almost in half by a line, called the fault line. The matches (teams) are formed by 5 players, the points are counted 15, 30, 40 and 50. Every 50 is a chico. Every five chicos is a pajero.
How to play
The pelota is bounced (served) from the bounce, which is placed at one end, it has to pass the fault line, it will be returned by a player from the opposing team, it continues to be played until a fault is committed or a line is made.
A line is when it bounces inside and goes outside through the sides or takes two bounces and stops. At 40 and line or two lines, the teams change fields. Faults: Pelota that does not pass the fault line from the serve, pelota that is hit badly, pelota that goes directly outside, etc.
