The Risco de Los Ancones festivities kicked off last Saturday with the proclamation by local resident Emilia Machín. In addition, the singer Atenea provided the musical note to the event.
The event began with the intervention of the president of the neighborhood association "Las Velas", David Asorey. "We can say that we are starting the return to these parties, I consider them patronal and endearing, because it is the month of summer in which the streets of the town, the festival grounds and the beach, are filled with people again," he said,
The president of the neighborhood association also pointed out that this year, the residents of the town, "with all the pride in their hearts, have done their bit to bring the patron saint of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria to the town." He also mentioned that the patron saint, San Juan Bautista, will arrive in the town "next year."
Asorey also announced that on August 19, the pilgrimage in honor of the patron saints will be celebrated, and the neighbors "will be able to accompany the Virgin through the streets of the town."
After the speech by the president of the neighborhood association, the Councilor for Festivities of the Teguise City Council, Nori Machin, grateful for the invitation, dedicated some emotional words to the town crier, whom she has known for years as a resident of the municipality and as one of the first founders of the town.
She also thanked the board of directors of the neighborhood association "for having taken a turn in the programming of the festivities, and for having brought together neighbors to develop this fantastic program."
Then came the turn of the town crier, who began by recalling that she had arrived in the 80s: "My brother-in-law had bought a house, made two rooms and when I went up at that time that it was not a town, I loved it. Then I bought the land and we started building my house."
Another of the anecdotes was when they began to fix the town's beach: "We were removing the stones along the way, because that was not even a beach, but with the help of more neighbors we have the beach we know."
In 2005 the Risco festivities began, then on the sidewalk of the house of the neighbor Marta Callero and the first Gala of Miss and Mister Los Ancones was held. "They gave me a white curtain fabric and I made the girls dresses so they would all look pretty," she recalled.
At that time, Los Ancones "had no electricity or running water" as now and the houses at that time "were warehouses." "We all slept in the same room, with all the mattresses on the floor because my house was full of people. One day, when I came from playing the lottery, I said to myself, and where do I stay?"
With respect to food, Machín recalled that "they did not complicate" life because there was no other choice but to "conform to what was in the town, since there was no supermarket." "Rice was made and the winkles, fish and octopus were caught from the tide. Once my brother-in-law brought a sack of crabs at night and the next morning we were looking for it because they had disappeared. The crabs remained on the walls and ceiling of the house," explained the town crier.