With the reading of the proclamation by the Rancho de Pascua Archinech de Tinajo, the festivities in honor of the Virgen de Los Dolores were officially inaugurated this Tuesday, before the large audience that gathered in Mancha Blanca.
At 8:30 p.m., the protocol act began with the interventions of the Vicar General of the Diocese of the Canary Islands, Hipólito Cabrera, the parish priest of San Roque and Rector of the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores, Juan Antonio Artiles, and the Councilor for Festivities of the Tinajo City Council, Jonathan Pérez.
Next, a video was shown with historical reviews of the Rancho de Pascua, which then proceeded to read the proclamation, a responsibility that fell to José Urbano Hernández, president of the group. A proclamation that was marked by the history of a culture inherited for many years, a legacy that the current members are excited to continue so that it is not lost over time.
Singing and offering to the Virgin
After the reading of the proclamation, the Rancho de Pascua Archinech sang some "Endechas" to the Virgen de Los Colores, a composition by the folklorist Emilio Fernández that was greatly applauded by the public present. Next, the mayor of the Tinajo City Council, Jesús Machín, presented the Ranchero Mayor, José Cabrera, with the official parchment that accredits the Rancho de Pascua as town criers for the year 2019,
The interventions of the president of the Cabildo, María Dolores Corujo, and the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, were then carried out, ending the protocol act corresponding to the reading of the proclamation.
Next, the Rancho de Pascua went to the Los Dolores hermitage to make an offering to the Virgin and present the vicar Hipólito Cabrera and the parish priest Juan Antonio Artiles with a painting with the image of Los Dolores, the work of the Cuban painter based in Lanzarote, José Ángel Hechavarría.
After finishing the offering with the singing of the "Endechas" to the Virgin, the president of the Rancho de Pascua, very excited, addressed those present thanking them for the attention and affection received during the act, also extending his thanks to the mayor and corporation for having chosen them as town criers.
Brushstrokes of the proclamation
For the Rancho de Pascua Archinech de Tinajo it was "an honor and a responsibility" to announce the Los Dolores festivities. "Honor because as a Rancho from this municipality we became for a moment the voices of our people, responsibility, because we want our proclamation to reach everyone, with the simplicity that characterizes us," they stated.
During their proclamation, they also recalled that Tinajo had seven recognized groups until, at the beginning of the 1960s, the last one, that of Tajaste or that of the Quinteros, became extinct. A tradition that was recovered in Tinajo at the end of 1973, when some former members decided to form a parranda, although it was not until the beginning of the 1980s when the Rancho de Pascua Archinech was formed, under the coordination of a former member of Rancho de Tajaste, Higinio Pérez Cabrera.
Aware that the Rancho de Pascua "is the living memory of the religious and traditional history of Tinajo", in their proclamation they wanted to highlight the people who made its continuity possible: Higinio Pérez Cabrera, José Cabrera Cabrera, Marcial Delgado, Domingo and Servando Callero Bonilla, Antonio Pérez Curbelo, Agapito and Julián Morales Cabrera, Placido and Juan Cabrera Perdomo, Pedro Hernández, Fefo Quintero, José Pérez Morales and Ignacio Álvarez Duque among others. "For all of them our memory, admiration and recognition, for their dedication, for keeping alive the tradition of the Rancho de Pascua de Tinajo," they pointed out.
In addition, they pointed out that it is "an honor" to have in their group their Ranchero Mayor, Antonio Tejera Cabrera, 85 years old, and Roberto Castro Tejera, 16 years old, thus harmonizing "the experience of our elders with the enthusiasm and drive of our young people."
Bearers "of an ancestral and valuable cultural treasure", the members of the Rancho de Pascua de Tinajo play various musical instruments mixing ancient percussion elements, such as swords, tambourines, sonajas or castanets, with other more modern string instruments, such as bandurrias, lutes, guitars and timples.
Tambourines, tambourines, swords and small swords, not only transmit the sound of these instruments, they carry attached to their notes the love and affection that the hands of a son of this land, our singer of Adelante, José Cabrera Cabrera, who for several years has been dedicated to the construction of these instruments, a relief that other members of our Rancho have taken. Tradition that we continue, because we love and feel our land, because it is part of the cultural identity of Tinajo. We hope that the new generations will continue to promote Canarian culture and maintain our signs of identity.
May the Ranchos de Pascua be declared Assets of Cultural Interest
Likewise, in the tour of the history of this group, which already announced the San Roque festivities in 2014, they recalled that in 2004 the Tinajo City Council granted them the name of a street in the La Cañada neighborhood, recognizing the "heritage value and musical wealth" of the Rancho and that in 2006 the Government of the Canary Islands awarded the Gold Medal to the Ranchos de Pascua and Ánimas of the archipelago "for the fundamental role they have played in the history of the Islands."
"We must preserve the values that identify us as cultural heritage. The Rancho de Pascua Archinech asks for it today at the feet of the Virgen de Dolores," said its members, who demanded that local authorities and the Government of the Canary Islands declare the Ranchos de Pascua and Ánimas of the Canary Islands as Assets of Cultural Interest in the category of Intangible.
"May our music and song, as a language that has no barriers, serve as gratitude to all our neighbors," continued the Rancho de pascua Archinech, who wanted to thank "in a particular and heartfelt way" all the people who collaborate with them year after year.
"At the feet of the Virgen de los Dolores, the Rancho de Pascua de Tinajo, puts in the mouth of its singers, the hope, faith and devotion of those men who broke the stones to sow the grains, who went out to take care of their cattle, who faced the sea, who mourned the departure of their loved ones who had crossed the Atlantic to seek sustenance for their families," they continued in their proclamation, which ended with a cheer to the Virgen de Los Dolores.
