San Cristóbal de La Laguna will be filled with colour and tradition between 24 October and 8 November, as it celebrates All Souls’ Day and the Day of the Dead. Under the title “Crossed Heritage”, a special programme has been designed to celebrate and raise awareness of the richness and unity of these two territories, with activities for all ages.

The presentation ceremony for this event was attended by the Councillor for Heritage, Adolfo Cordobés; the Honorary Consul of Mexico in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, María de los Ángeles Baca; and the Director of the Mexico-Canary Islands Foundation, Yolanda Cordobés.

Adolfo Cordobés noted that ‘through this packed programme of events, our World Heritage city will be filled with memories and cultural fusion. The four catrinas displayed in this square in La Concepción are just the beginning of a journey that includes altars, workshops, music, gastronomy and street art’.

‘La Laguna and Mexico share much more than affection, we share history. Our urban model inspired the layout of cities such as Puebla and Guanajuato. Canarian emigration left its mark on northern and central Mexico, and today we continue to strengthen ties through culture, heritage and institutional cooperation,’ added the councillor.

For her part, Ángeles Baca highlighted that “thanks to this initiative, we will have up to six World Heritage Sites represented in this city. The first and most important is San Cristóbal de La Laguna and its 25th anniversary as a World Heritage Site. On the other hand, the catrinas will represent the ceramics of Talavera de la Reina, the monarch butterfly, Mexican cuisine, mariachi music and the Day of the Dead itself.”

Finally, Yolanda Cordobés thanked La Laguna City Council for its collaboration in this proposal and stressed that this activity, “Crossed Heritage. Day of the Dead, All Souls” Night’, will not only give visibility to the Mexican side, “but will also place special emphasis on the legacy of the Canary Islands so that it can be passed on to all generations. The Finados represent a tradition of our land that, unfortunately, has been lost over the years and we must revive.”

“In this vein, we have organised visits with more than 300 schoolchildren from schools and groups in the municipality to visit the Mexico-Canary Islands Foundation and witness the recreation of an altar that we have set up in reference to this emblematic celebration of the archipelago. This date shares many similarities with Mexico’s Night of the Dead, as it also featured specific cuisine and brought together the elders of the community to remember those who are no longer with us,” said the director of the Mexico Canarias Foundation.

Programme

Among the scheduled activities, the grand altar route stands out, which will begin on 29 October and will be spread across different parts of the city, such as the Fundación México Canarias itself, the Faculty of Education of the University of La Laguna, the Fundación CICOP, the Casino de La Laguna, the Fundación Cristino de Vera-Espacio Cultural Caja Canarias and the Fundación Sabandeños.

Other highlights include the embroidery workshop on 31 October (all information now available at www.fundacioncristinodevera.org), the traditional parade of catrinas through the historic centre of the city and the Mariachi Festival (both events on 8 November, at 5.30 pm and 7 pm) and the All Souls’ Day Mass on 2 November, in the church of La Concepción. At this point, Yolanda Cordobés would like to thank the parish priest of this sanctuary in La Laguna, Jesús Gil Agüín, for his collaboration and for providing all the facilities necessary for this display of events and catrinas to take place in the surroundings of this religious site.

Exceptionally, outside the official dates, a free workshop on grief management will also be held on 21 November (at 7:00 p.m.) by educational psychologist Carmen Delia García León at the Fundación México Canarias.