Las Fiestas de San Benito 2025 unen La Laguna y La Gomera

The central courtyard of the former convent of Santo Domingo de La Laguna was dressed in tradition and Canary culture on the occasion of the presentation of the official program of popular, sports, and religious events of the Fiestas and Romería in honor of San Benito Abad 2025, which this time will take place between June 26 and July 20 and will pay a special tribute to the island of La Gomera.

The unveiling of this extensive schedule of events was attended by the mayor of the Council, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez; the councilor of Festivals, Dailos González; the author of the program leaflet for these festivities, Julio Torres, and the representative of the Friends and Pilgrims of San Benito Association, Jorge García. The event was accompanied by the talent and creativity of the musical quartet formed by Israel Espino, Toñi Hernández, Candelaria González, and Javier Hernández.

Luis Yeray Gutiérrez mentioned, «In this edition, we wanted to dedicate our twinning for San Benito Abad to La Gomera, for its rich and extensive cultural tradition and for sharing with us the uniqueness of having a unique intangible heritage, especially the Gomeran whistling.» The mayor also announced that in this edition, a historic event will take place, as the patron image of these festivities will process together with San Roque for the first time.

The mayor of La Laguna also informed that «this year we take a step further in our purpose of bringing this celebration closer to the surroundings of San Benito, developing different events in the church square and making the neighbors more involved in the more than 40 planned events.»

«The Fiestas and Romería of San Benito, which holds the honor of being the only regional festival in the Canary Islands, represent that respect and love for our traditions and the legacy passed down through the generations,» expressed Luis Yeray Gutiérrez.

On his part, the Councilor of Festivals of the Council, Dailos González, detailed the most outstanding events of this extensive agenda, highlighting emblematic appointments such as the traditional proclamation of the Festivities, which will take place on July 3 (19:00 hours) and will be given by Rosa María Aguilar, delegate of the Government of the Canary Islands in Madrid and former rector of the University of La Laguna.

From that moment on, the gala events for the election of the Romera Mayor (July 5), Infant, and Elderly (July 6, in the latter two cases) will take center stage, all of them at the Teatro Leal. This last ceremony will also serve as a prelude to the ‘VII Memorial Pedro Molina’.

«The big weekend of the Festivities will take place from July 11 to 13, with the Baile de Magos de San Benito on Friday, July 11, divided into three atmospheres and with an unprecedented display of tables; the 8 Islas Festival on Saturday, July 12, which will bring important musical and visual surprises for the attending public; and the grand Regional Romería on Sunday, July 13, which last year brought together more than 15,000 people on the city streets,» explained the councilor, who also mentioned as a novelty of this edition the first edition of a Children’s Baile de Magos, to be held in the surroundings of the hermitage of San Benito on the morning of July 12.

Both Luis Yeray Gutiérrez and Dailos González wanted to take advantage of this event to praise the work and dedication of all the people and entities that make this celebration possible, especially the Friends and Pilgrims of San Benito Association, the participating folk groups, the neighborhood collectives, the security forces, and the municipal staff involved.

Likewise, the writer and researcher Julio Torres, responsible for the edition of the program book, explained that the presence of San Roque in the Regional Romería is due to the fact that in recent years an octave has been held in which the image of San Benito has visited the Camino de la Villa, San Diego, La Atalaya, and El Camino del Tornero, «but the geography was not going to allow us to climb to San Roque,» so this time the image of the saint will be incorporated into the Romería. «I think for all the residents of San Roque, and for the brotherhoods of Santo Domingo, who are collaborating like never before, it will be a very important day.» The researcher detailed that the program includes prominent historical articles, in addition to the text of the proclamation from the previous year, by Iván Quintana.

Sports Agenda

Sport will once again have a prominent role starting from June 28, with the celebration of the second edition of the ‘Legua de San Benito’, a popular race promoted by the lagunero OAD and which will have children, cadets, and adult categories. There will also be usual events such as volleyball, card games, and domino tournaments (July 5) or the Memorial Hugo de Armas Bicycle Party (July 6).

An Inclusive Romería with Special Hours

Regarding the Regional Romería of San Benito Abad 2025, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez explained that this year they will once again bet on inclusion in the route, offering specific spaces for people with reduced mobility and functional diversity around the La Concepción tower, «with the purpose that no one is left without enjoying this great celebration of traditions, gastronomy, culture, and folklore of the islands.»

He also pointed out that, as it happened in the previous edition, the procession for this pilgrimage route will start at 11:00 hours, a schedule designed to favor the conditions of the animals and the participants, avoiding the hours of greatest sun exposure.

The complete program of the Festivities and the Regional Romería in honor of San Benito Abad 2025 will be available on the website of the City Council of La Laguna (https://www.aytolalaguna.es/), so that those who wish can enjoy historical photos of this celebration and texts alluding to this festivity.