Fiesta discussion

[Guanche]

Just found this thread, so I'll throw my two penny worth in. Nova is not alone. There are hundreds of Spanish people living in Santa Cruz who would dearly love to see the end of the Carnival. I have sat in bars in the early hours of the weekend to see Spanish residents bombard the canopy of the bar with eggs! in an effort to shut it.
We sold our first house here because of noise, dogs parties and general noisy people. Thats why we bought the house we have now because we have no one living near us. But I sit here listing to some music thats blasting out from a house across the branco! It will be going all day.  The good thing is that it covers the noise of the barking hunting dogs that bark most of the day and at 1am and 4am and 6am!!!! you get the picture

The thing is we have spoken to people nearby and they just don't hear it...... or pretend they don't hear it! We knew Spain was one of the noisiest countries in the world but we had no idea. Even though the wife is from the island she had forgotten after 30 odd years living in, fairly tranquil, Uk.
After 11 years the wife and I have come to the conclusion that its us thats out of step. So for the most part we just do as the locals do and go deaf for the duration.

But it does help to let off steam about it now and again!

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

Our town's fiesta is coming up at the end of the month and this thread makes my anxiety level go up.  Last year was not so bad as the fiesta committee very kindly turned down the volume so that our walls were not vibrating (and we are 500m from the plaza).  The year before was an absolute nightmare with the sound up full from 10 am to 4 am and beyond.  I wonder which camp this year's committee are in.  I shall report in once the fun begins.

[Janet]

Just to give an idea of how idiotic this fiesta thing is, and how it is rather silly to talk in terms of "their culture" and "respect", there is a heatwave here right now. It is a heatwave that is so bad that Gran Canaria yesterday registered the highest temperature in Spain and, over the next couple of days before it disperses, is expected to get even worse with hot dry winds.

These are the conditions that cause the fires, and cause their spread. This is why the Cabildo has closed the Teide national park. The whole island above around 500m is on shutdown ...

after 7pm today.

Why? Why not now because they have every single dispositivo in place for the fire(s) they KNOW are going to happen in these circumstances. They know because one actually happened yesterday in the national park itself in the upper reaches of La Orotava, caused it appears by some carelessness in a group of walkers.

The reason is because today the Candelaria fiestas patronales take place, and there will be fireworks in the Guimar valley this afternoon. The president of the Canarian government himself has joined the pilgrims walking around the mountains down to Candelaria. It's been on TV, the live broadcast is in place, the men wearing rugs are tooled up for their "guanche display" ... and of course there'll be the fucking fireworks.

I really don't hope they set the valley on fire ... but part of me thinks it will serve them damn well right if they do ...

This is why "fiestas" and their "cultural value" deserve a debate, and why it is NOT alright to just accept them and disparage anyone who says they are not all that is positive.

[Briz]

Fireworks, rockets, red hot embers equals fire

Not rocket science is it.

[Michael]

I don't know if you folks will see it but this reminds me of the asylum that I live in.

People apply the 'culture' label and think that allows them to do what they like. 

[Briz]

There are certain things which people should not do and having forest fires is one of them.

But if we remove all the "Cultural" things in the world it will be a very bland place.

I've found that the changes in the last forty years have meant that cities are getting so similar that it doesn't matter where in the world you are.

Soon everywhere will be the same with a McDonalds and a Starbucks, we wont need to travel and will sit infront of a computer screen and get fat

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

I don't know if you folks will see it but this reminds me of the asylum that I live in.

People apply the 'culture' label and think that allows them to do what they like.

Except if you are a native.  Then you are not allowed to do anything to offend someone else's culture. 

[Briz]

Except if you are a native.  Then you are not allowed to do anything to offend someone else's culture.

I think that's only if you are "native" to the UK

[Nova]

The road at the front of me will be closed from the 19th to the 26th - a whole week - because of the fiesta.  In a small town like Las Galletas where parking is already at a premium, it can take half an hour of driving round to find a parking space on a good day - Janet can vouch for that    With a whole street closed for the week and at least two others closed on the main fiesta days, it's a bloody nightmare - especially as more people are pouring into town for the fiesta!  It isn't just the inconvenience and having to park further away and walk, but the time lost!  If it takes everybody just half an hour to find a parking space (often it will be longer), that's people being late for work, people leaving home earlier or arriving home later to compensate, those entering the town on business losing valuable time out of their working day.  All that loss of productivity while people are sitting in their cars leaning on their horns and yelling at each other, even crankier from loss of sleep, while they burn petrol that they can ill afford!  "Cultural" or not, the losses surely exceed the gain on all counts.  What a waste.

[poker]

YOEHOOO fiesta rime again in Galettas . . . .
Not , we live nearby and dont think we are even interested anymore in any fiestas there , there is one every week here I think in summer , a real neusence more than fiesta , like Nova writes .
Bicykle time again this week to Galettas then , dont mind it if it was not so hot and there where no bicykle theves arround . . . .