Photos: Sergio Betancort
The residents of the town of Mácher began the festivities in honor of their patron saint San Pedro with the reading of the proclamation. The act was held at 8:30 p.m. this Monday in the hall of the C.S.C. Guardilama of Mácher. The honor of proclaiming the festivities this year went to the neighbor Blanca Bonilla Paz, who has resided on the island of Tenerife for many years, but has always maintained ties with her town.
Blanca completed her primary studies at the La Asomada school and her Baccalaureate studies in Arrecife, later moving to La Laguna to continue her studies at the University, where she obtained a degree in Mathematics in 1972-1977. In 2000 she obtained a doctorate from the University of La Laguna and in 2003 she obtained a position as Professor of University School.
Bonilla began her proclamation with brief but interesting historical data on the conquest of Lanzarote, carried out by Jean de Bethencourt; in addition to a few brushstrokes on the volcanic eruptions that occurred on the island in the years 1730-1736.
Touching closer to her town of Mácher, she recalled how the neighboring town of La Asomada smelled of onions while Mácher was presented as an authentic green carpet by the branches of the tomato plants. Tomatoes with a unique flavor that gave a different touch to salads. Blanca also kept very present the image that she had to live of the long lines of camels and donkeys next to the Mácher mill, loaded with sacks of toasted millet to later turn it into the rich gofio that perfumed the town. And looking back, she still visualized the sands where barley, wheat or peas were grown, among many other legumes; without forgetting watermelons, pineapples and melons.
Blanca recalled how on the eve of San Pedro the oven was lit to make bread and sweets; those rich shortbreads, mimos or sponge cakes and how the oven smelled. On San Pedro's day it was time to wear a new dress and the neighbors set out on the road to the old hermitage, where San Pedro awaited them with his large bald head, the keys in his hands and his tunic of pale colors.
In Mácher remains its mill as a symbol and the patron saint
Blanca, remembering all those experiences, stopped looking carefully at the entire environment in which she lived and seeing how the road to La Vegueta is now paved; the road from Yaiza to the Port of Arrecife with its roundabouts, the one in Capitas and the one in Volcán. She looks at the houses that surround them and only recognizes a few and really does not know who their inhabitants are because the town has grown a lot.
Blanca today misses the fact that there are no longer green carpets, nor sowing in the lands of the coast, nor birds. La Asomada no longer smells of onions, Mácher no longer smells of gofio, nor does the eve of San Pedro smell of bread and sweets in the oven and with great nostalgia she points out: how everything has changed!
But in Mácher remains its mill as a symbol and the patron saint, San Pedro, whom the neighbors continue to celebrate every year, thus maintaining the tradition. The town has changed but the spirit remains alive. This is how Blanca Bonilla Paz ended her proclamation in honor of San Pedro in this 2017 edition.
The mayor of Tías, José Francisco Hernández, presented her with a sculpture as a souvenir and Juana Saavedra on behalf of the festival committee presented her with a bouquet of flowers. Next, the music school of the municipality of Tías, directed by Professor Juan Manuel Reyes, performed several songs with Canarian roots. The act ended with a toast for all attendees offered by the festival committee.
