Los Diabletes represent for Teguise a fundamental part of its Cultural Heritage and, for this reason, the government group of the City Council raised this Wednesday to the plenary the approval of the request to the Government of the Canary Islands for the declaration of this icon as an Asset of Intangible Interest of the Canary Islands. In addition, it was approved to register the brand identity "so that the effort and work to keep the tradition of the people of Teguise intact is respected as much as possible".
“Teguise has the obligation to maintain and promote our customs and traditions, and we are proud to have in our municipality one of the oldest traditions in the Canary Islands, Los Diabletes, which has been perpetuated over the centuries”, declared the mayor, Oswaldo Betancort.
In 1987, the current Official Chronicler of Teguise, Francisco Hernández Delgado, began an investigation into the Diablete de Teguise that led him to study this ancient Christian tradition, its clearly African influences and its evolution in the peripheral areas of the American colonies.
As the investigations indicate, and despite the loss of documents from the Norman era, Teguise is aware of the existence and importance of this tradition thanks to the documents of the former suppressed convents of San Francisco and Santo Domingo and the books of Fábrica Parroquial de San Miguel de Teguise that refer to the ancient ceremony of Good and Evil celebrated by Christianity. This tradition is also known thanks to the literature and insular folklore that integrated it into one of the most popular ceremonies on the island, promoted by the Franciscans and in which the aboriginal, black and Moorish population, as well as the European population, participated.
In 1988, the Department of Culture of the Teguise City Council published a booklet, “Los Diabletes de Teguise”, which disseminates the first results of this investigation. In 1994, a second publication, under the same title, was presented at the Meeting of the popular Carnival of the Canary Islands of San Nicolás de Tolentino (Gran Canaria). In 1996, a paper was read at the Congress of Popular Culture of La Puntilla (Gran Canaria). In addition, lectures have been given, theatrical performances of the Dance of the Fight have been staged, which has been staged by the theatrical group “Esperanza Spínola”, as well as mask workshops and various dynamization activities in schools, which has brought this ancestral tradition of Teguise closer to the youth and children's world.
Proposal for the Gold Medal of the Canary Islands
On the other hand, in 1991 Teguise requested the Heritage Service of the Cabildo Insular de Lanzarote to promote the declaration of the Diablete as an Asset of Cultural Interest as an intrinsic heritage vestige of this town, which has the Cultural Association “Los Diabletes de Teguise” to protect the figure of the Diablete and carry out a great work of dissemination by holding workshops, offering information or staging the dance in other municipalities.
In the Special Commission for Honors, Distinctions and Ceremonial of March 30, 2012, it was also proposed to name a street in the Villa de Teguise, in the name of and in homage to the Diabletes de Teguise. On July 25, 2013, a license was obtained from the Insular Heritage Service to install a sculpture in homage to the Diablete, located in the Plaza de San Francisco, authored by Rigoberto Pérez Camacho.
“In addition to all the homages and recognitions granted to this valuable tradition during the last years, Teguise has proposed the Diablete de Teguise to the recognition of the Gold Medal of the Canary Islands”, explained the head of the area, Sara Bermúdez, who has advanced that "they are working on a new catalog adapted to the recent Heritage Law and that this work of safeguarding our intangible heritage will continue”.