María Candelaria Méndez Hernández and Eduvigis Pérez Delgado are the last oral link regarding the tradition of decorative paper during the Our Lady of La Luz celebrations, which take place in the neighbourhoods of La Luz and Las Candias in La Orotava. Today marks the pinnacle of the festivities, a tradition recorded in inventories dating back to 1910, yet little is known about it.
Historical Significance
Traditionally, the decorations were tied to religious symbolism, made from beech branches and placed outside temples and along the procession route, a practice that still continues today.
Years later, with the introduction of tissue paper or decorated paper, additional decorative elements were incorporated into the festivities, such as flowers, pom-poms, garlands, and more intricate items like lamps or lanterns, as well as a large ship supported by a wire structure featuring seven cannons that symbolise the seven sacraments, which continues to be adorned to this day.
Community Involvement
The residents themselves meticulously create these decorations, given the material’s fragility, and thus they wait until the last moment to put them up. This year, they have used 3,000 folds of paper in various colours.
The celebrations of Our Lady of La Luz have consistently featured friendly competition in decoration between the two neighbourhoods, alternating each year. This time, it is Las Candias’ turn. However, as the number of participants dwindles, they have moved away from this friendly rivalry and invited the organising committee of La Luz to join in.
This decision was made unanimously due to the risk of the tradition disappearing again, as it did in the late twentieth century. It was revived in 2006 in Las Candias by a group of locals, while in La Luz, it has nearly vanished entirely. The reasons for this decline remain unclear; however, they suspect it may be due to the convenience and cost-effectiveness of purchasing decorative items, such as colourful bunting, rather than making them.
Aiming for Inclusion
Embracing the motto ‘unity is strength’, the aim is to engage more people each year. In 2026, La Luz school will join in the preparations, with hopes to involve members of the Senior Citizens’ Association, led by Eduvigis as its president.
The goal is for the students to “engage” with the festivities of their community. “The idea is to foster intergenerational connections that will help appreciate their historical and cultural significance, thereby preventing their permanent loss,” explains council member Felipe David Benítez, originally from La Luz. In this context, the testimonies of both women are invaluable.
Preserving Tradition
At 84 years old, María Candelaria, president of the Las Candias festivities committee, cherishes a tradition whose origin she cannot recall but has experienced with great joy since childhood. Back then, they gathered at night after work in a venue that no longer exists, located directly opposite the church, with “loads of men” present. Today, while a few men remain, the majority of participants are women, and they number barely ten. This was a day for camaraderie where, along with preparing decorations, they laughed, chatted, and always “brought wines and nuts to snack on,” she recalls.
Just like in the past, preparations begin well in advance, and the technique for manipulating the paper remains unchanged. “The fringes of the spiders are cut into strips, while for other figures, like the pom-poms, squares are used, which are then folded, frayed, and tied together,” they explain. Some changes have occurred to ease the work, such as glue, which is no longer made with boiled green potatoes that were once rubbed onto the thread to affix decorations.
Nonetheless, the dedication of the local residents to maintain their festivities and the spirit of having a good time remain intact.
The Council Proposes Inclusion in the Insular Catalogue
To protect the decoration created using traditional folded paper techniques during the festivities of La Luz and Las Candias, the local council plans to recommend to the Tenerife Cabildo that they initiate a process to include it in the Insular Catalogue of Cultural Heritage Goods, recognising its value as an ancestral cultural expression and an intangible heritage, in accordance with Article 17 of Law 11/2019.
