The waters of Puerto del Carmen, between the Quíquere ravine and Playa Grande, were covered this Saturday by a large tide of fishing and recreational boats to accompany the image of the Virgen del Carmen in her annual embarkation, setting sail from the port of La Tiñosa. Shortly after 6:15 p.m., the venerated image of the Virgin left in procession from her church in the port of La Tiñosa, escorted by the marine band of Los Buches and hundreds of residents and tourists who joined with their attendance to this tradition in the Fiestas of Puerto del Carmen.
The Virgin, on the shoulders of women and men from Tiñosa, listened attentively to the Salve Marinera that was premiered in her honor by the murga Los Tity Roys, originally from the Titteroy neighborhood in the capital of Lanzarote, and who come every year to their annual appointment to the maritime procession of Puerto del Carmen to dedicate a salve that was followed by a great ovation from the attending public.
Later, the image of the Virgin was accompanied by the Los Buches band, in procession to the La Tiñosa dock where she boarded the Layuno Zallo tuna boat, owned by the Rodríguez Rodríguez family, from La Tiñosa, who in 2017 are incorporating this new boat into the Fishermen's Association. By decision of the members and fishermen of Puerto del Carmen, this boat, originally from Bermeo and almost 19 meters in length, was chosen to transport the Virgin during her marine procession through the waters of Puerto del Carmen and make the offering in memory of the people of the sea who have perished in it.
On the fishing boat, under the orders of its captains, the brothers Raúl and Antonio Jesús Rodríguez Rodríguez, were a group of members of the Coral Marina de Puerto del Carmen, who this year have been the announcers of the Fiestas de Puerto del Carmen on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the first tourist area of Lanzarote, the parish priest of Tías, Agustín Lasso, and the mayor of Tías, Pancho Hernández.
The fiestas of Puerto del Carmen have experienced this Saturday one of their greatest days with the traditional maritime procession in which almost a hundred boats participated, decorated for the occasion. A total of eighty-seven boats were authorized by the Maritime Authority to be present in the marine procession. The Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of sailors, was paraded through the waters of the Atlantic in the company of numerous faithful and devotees, in addition to the marine band Los Buches who set the festive atmosphere.
The procession to the Virgin departed from the church of Puerto del Carmen to the Varadero from where she boarded the Layuno Zallo, the largest boat in the Fishermen's Association and which this year is premiering in the procession that coincides with the 50th anniversary of Puerto del Carmen. Moments before transferring the image of the Virgin from the fishing boat to her church, the parish priest of Tías invited the Rodríguez Family (owner of the tuna boat) and the members of her crew to approach the image of the Virgin and touch her so that they would receive, in their new and many voyages, the protection of the patron saint of the Sea.