The Call of El Pino: A Celebration of Community and Identity
El Pino once again calls us together, providing a space for gathering and affirming our sense of belonging. It feels like a return to our roots. The major festival of Gran Canaria seems to usher in a new year. We leave summer behind, and in this enveloping and collective manner, we prepare to commence a new educational, political, or work-related season. This moment is deeply tied to our identity, revolving around the island’s religious devotion, collective memory, values, and cultural traditions that define us.
A Commitment to Our Values
We come together to celebrate but also to renew our commitment to uphold the great values that have made this land a reference point and an attractive place for those of us born here or who have chosen to live here. We are a compassionate people, striving for dignity and equality for all. Our determination and courage have enabled us to overcome the significant challenges faced throughout history. We thrive on innovation, standing at the forefront of science, technology, art, and culture, while cherishing and nurturing our Canarian identity, which makes us unique in the grand mosaic of modern societies. We gather in Teror to strengthen these roots that have allowed us to grow.
Resilience Through History
We have a future because we have history. A gust of wind shattered the calm on that fateful 3rd of April 1684. It was the first warning of a storm that soon rattled the woodland with its howl. It toppled bushes, ruined harvests, and brought down walls and roofs that precariously held on, as if by a miracle of daily life. The magnificent Canarian pine, over forty metres tall, could not withstand its force, where, according to tradition, the Virgin of El Pino made her appearance.
It is said that it fell silently, bidding a slow farewell, aware of its immortality, embodying the dignity of entities destined to endure in the memory of peoples. The tree may have fallen, but the sense of community that has developed over centuries at its base persists, forming an essential element of Gran Canaria’s identity.
Facing New Challenges
Today, other winds blow fiercely, and we witness daily how much more threatening they are. These winds come from afar, from all corners of the world, bringing with them shadows and ominous forecasts. They sweep across the globe, seeking to dismantle the values and social advancements that have taken decades, even centuries, to achieve. They wish to replace the roots from which has branched an open, compassionate, united, and progressive island society with seeds of hate, regression, and division.
In this context, it is pertinent to ask ourselves a question that is both intimate, collective, and universal: What does it mean to walk towards Teror? One answer is that it signifies perpetuating and representing a social contract that unites us as a people, transcending attempts at polarization, bound by empathy, the search for shared opportunities, mutual respect, and solidarity. Today, we are called upon to defend these values, which have naturally emerged throughout the history of Gran Canaria’s society, as steadfast as the Canarian pine itself.
Celebrating Our Unity
Thus, we walk, embodying the very essence of our island. Each person arrives from their neighbourhood, village, hillside, ravine, or coastal area. They come from various social and undoubtedly ideological realities. Yet the destination is the same, as is the widespread feeling of being part of an event and a shared sentiment that far exceeds the bounds of selfishness. Today, we tread upon a century-old path where we celebrate what we have been, what we are, and what we aspire to be. We must continue this journey, leaving our mark so that the path ahead does not get lost in the overgrowth that surrounds it.
The 2025 edition of El Pino embodies yet another year of the Atlantic blend of tradition, innovation, integration, and emotion that characterises Gran Canaria. Above all, it is a manifestation of unity graphically represented by the arrival of carts from all municipalities, alongside the Cabildo, this time presenting an offering to ‘Mother Earth’ as a farmer’s expression of gratitude for the harvests. This image of unity inspires our coordination of policies to tackle the island’s significant challenges and the actions needed to enhance the community’s quality of life under the leadership of the Cabildo. Any division would be a grave error that could weaken us. Interestingly, this sense of group importance and island identity is well-documented in historical chronicles. The ‘Book of Miracles of the Virgin of El Pino of Teror’ also focuses on episodes providing widespread benefit.
Weaving Our Tapestry
History is a tapestry, a loom of continual labour. Especially regarding Gran Canaria, it is an ancient weaving to which we continually add new, colourful pieces. This makes the exhibition ‘The Threads of Yesterday’, organised by the Cabildo in the context of the festival, exceptionally relevant. Furthermore, El Pino serves as a meeting point and a reflection of the island’s status as a bridge between cultures. The XXXIII Folklore Festival welcomes musical expressions from Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Graciosa, and El Hierro. The greatness emanating from the small timple during the first parade in the Canary Islands showcasing this instrument perfectly illustrates that the archipelago needs its own socially committed voice that resounds clearly to demand rights and create a space for dialogue, sustainability, and social progress. Meanwhile, the Teresa de Bolívar Contest will summon voices and sounds from both shores in memory of the woman of the Liberator of America, the granddaughter of a family from Teror. Across time and the ocean, on a wave that helps to clear the shore, echo the words of Simón Bolívar when he stated that the shared homeland of honourable people is to “protect the rights of citizens and respect the sacred nature of Humanity.”
A Luminous Source of Hope
All of this and much more is El Pino. An invisible spring whose flow nourishes our aspirations, much like the water source at the base of the magical tree. For this reason, the Cabildo was at the origin of the Romería Ofrenda and is now an essential part of the organisation of the event’s programme alongside the Town Hall of Teror. The festival also offers us the opportunity to renew our faith in community and common goals.
The festivities will pass, and daily life will resume. But that tree which fell without truly falling will continue to provide shade, exerting an influence where the feeling of unity prevails, in the deepest sense of the word—placing the common good and social cohesion at the highest point, upon the steeple of the temple. This premise marks and defines the Ecoisla project advocated by the Cabildo with conviction, delivering results and urgent objectives to advance in areas of water, food, and energy sovereignty, as well as sustainable progress compatible with environmental protection and, above all, the welfare of people, especially those in vulnerable situations, whom we must accompany. Environmental, social, and economic sustainability, full inclusion, innovation, science, economic diversification, social justice, peace, human rights, international law, equality, and freedom. No one should be left behind, especially on this journey.
The myth of the water that flowed from the base of the fabled pine embodies the unravelling of an entire island, which sought in its depths what did not descend from the sky. Yes, water, projects, dreams, hope, and progress stand against the mudspread by those who, instead of offering social improvement proposals, contribute only negativity and societal destruction by stirring xenophobia, resentment, and lies. They shamelessly exploit the misfortunes of others to raise their pulpit, with little success on the island; however, this should not lead us to lower our guard. The true faith, good sentiments, and the open traditions of Gran Canaria are our strength against these regressive currents. Moreover, the resilience of our people, who salvaged part of the fallen tree to carve the Cruz Verde and uphold what is truly essential—the belief, the struggle, the connection, the symbol.
We often refer to these times as stormy—indeed they are. I wish to conclude by recalling another legend, that of the sailor who claimed to have saved his life in a storm at sea by calming the waters with the tossing of a pine cone collected at the spot where the Virgin of El Pino had appeared, according to the account revived by historian Gustavo Alejo. Let us once again cast it into the ocean. Do not abandon the path. Do not retreat. Keep your principles steadfast. We will not fall. We will not be silenced.
