A Pebble in the Atlantic

Isora's spring

The footpath down to the spring at Isora, El Hierro, Canary Islands

The footpath down to the spring at Isora

Water is an important resource on El Hierro, like all the other Canary Islands. It's not so long ago that everyone had to go to the spring to fetch water.

In Isora, the old spring is northeast of the village centre. You can follow the signs from the main road through the village (NB "main" is relative: we are not talking about a six lane highway here) down to a car park. That's a nice view in itself, but if you take the steep footpath that meanders down fromt eh car park, things get better.

The water tank at the spring at Isora, El Hierro, Canary Islands

The water tank at the spring

After perhaps two kilometers, you reach the spring. In 1943 they built a modern, concrete water tank here, presumably to store the water and keep it cleaner. If you go there, watch your step as there's a hole in the top. If you fell in, I think it would be impossible to get out again without help. (In fact I may use this for one of my stories some time).

The bit that fascinated me was the old laundry. You see, if you don't have running water at home, your clothes weigh a lot less than the water you need to wash them. So you take the laundry to the water rather than vice versa. So here are six tubs for hand washing.

the spring at Isora, El Hierro, Canary Islands

The old laundry

Oneof the concrete panels between the tubs has a series of initials scratched in while the concrete was still wet, and the date "1963". This puzzles me. That's about the time when my husband's family on La Palma had to pump water into a tank on the roof by hand once a week, but once you'd done that, there was running water in the house. So 1963 seems very late to be carry the clothes to the spring, but rather early for restoration work. I'd have thought it would be just old enough to be boring. Of course, La Palma is a much richer island than El Hierro, so maybe people were still carrying their clothes to the spring then - and all the way back up. It certainly makes me appreciate my washing machine!

But they certainly had a fantastic view while they lathered away.

The view from the spring

Labels: Isora, spring, walks

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One of my favourite places to eat in El Hierro is the Parilla in Isora.

Parilla means grill, and they mostly serve grilled meat with salad and wrinkly potatoes or chips. It's not a particularly innovative menu, but they use good ingredients and cook them very well. The service is friendly and the prices are reasonable. What more could you ask?

Labels: Food, Isora

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The Bajada

The procession leaving Isora

I'm better informed now. The main procession with the statue of the Virgin of the Kings leaves El Dehesa at 5 am, and travels 28 km to Valverde, the capital, arriving at 10:30 pm. But there are lots of side processions. For example, I saw one procession leave Isora with their statue of St. Joseph at 7 am, to meet the main procession at La Cruz de Los Reyes.

It was still dark to begin with, and half light when they danced away up a steep lane out of the village. I was only walking, and I couldn't keep up.

They only have three musical instruments: rather high-pitched flutes, castanets and big, deep drums. When I heard Herreñan music on the telly, I didn't like it at all, because it was far too shrill. I hadn't appreciated that my TV wasn't reproducing the low notes. In real life, the glorious WHUMP! from the big drums balances the flutes perfectly, and you want to dance.

And they do dance. They have people dancing all the way, in shifts. The costumes and dance steps are a little reminiscent of English morris dancers. I believe the tune and costumes vary a little from village to village.

In fact, five processions meet the main one La Cruz de Los Reyes, each with their own statue. It's also where people stop for a picnic lunch.

Then they all travel together, with the villages taking turns for the honour of carrying the Virgin and dancing for her. I caught up with the procession at La Raya de la Mareta, where El Pinar hands over to Isora.

The procession at La Raya de la Mareta

The sun was baking, and I was amazed to see the dancers still going at it with gusto. These people are really fit! Of course, they must have been practising for months, and I expect a lot of them have physical work anyway.

The bajada dancers

Even in the middle of the procession, the crowds were huge. I would have liked to see the arrival at Valverde, where they dance inside the big church, but I didn't fancy my chances of getting a parking space within a couple of miles of the town centre.