It’s no surprise that a place known as the greenhouse of Tenerife should have a fiesta which involves treasures provided by the land. What is a surprise is the townspeople in Tejina in the north of Tenerife take these treasures and make giant hearts from them.
The Hearts of Tejina fiesta on the last Sunday in August involves three streets, El Pico, Arriba and Abajo competing to see who can create the most elaborate heart from fruits, leaves and pastries and then which street can erect their heart the quickest in the church plaza.
It seems to me that El Pico always wins and then the fiesta borders on the cruel side as the ‘campeones’ rush to the other two hearts shouting ‘nos primero’ (we’re first) before shouting abuse at the other hearts. The cruellest barb seemed to be ‘siempre lo mismo, siempre lo mismo’ (it’s always the same) directed at Calle Abajo’s effort. Whether they meant that Calle Abajo always lost or whether the heart displayed a certain lack of originality I’m not sure, but it did leave the residents of Calle Abajo looking terribly dejected.
It’s all just another colourful aspect to life to be found in rural Tenerife.
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