RedaccionThe flags of the different towns that star in the Descent of the Virgin of Los Reyes have been displayed together today, Tuesday, March 18, at 6:00 p.m., in Valverde on the occasion of the official inauguration of the Insular Office of La Bajada, which will remain open to the public until the Ascent of the Virgin, on August 2, to inform about everything related to the LXXI edition of La Bajada (July 5) and the long festive month that the island of El Hierro will experience due to the transfer of the Patroness through its towns.
A very emotional moment starred by the towns of Sabinosa, El Pinar, El Golfo, Isora, San Andrés, El Norte, and Valverde within an event promoted by the Cabildo of El Hierro with the presence of numerous public, civil and ecclesiastical authorities, enlivened by the children’s folk group Tejeguatito.
The Diocesan Administrator of Tenerife, Antonio Morales, accompanied by the archpriest and parish priests of the island of El Hierro, blessed these facilities and recalled «everything arrives and La Bajada is already very close, we all arrive with a spirit of hope after 8 years in which many things have happened in our lives, in Humanity, on our island, an opportunity to reunite.» Morales announced the presence on the day of the Descent of the Virgin of Los Reyes in El Hierro, on July 5, of the new Bishop of the Nivariense Diocese, Eloy Alberto Santiago, and had words for the people of La Palma who also celebrate the Descent of the Virgin of Las Nieves in July.
Within the civil sphere, the mayors of El Pinar, La Frontera, and Valverde intervened in this event, and the interventions were concluded by the insular president, Alpidio Armas.
The mayor of El Pinar, Juan Miguel Padrón, recalled that each Descent «is a milestone in our island, a moment of faith and unity, a celebration that marks our history and reinforces our sense of identity.»
For his part, the mayor of La Frontera, Pablo Rodríguez, mentioned the Vow signed by the people of El Hierro in 1741, which «marks the history of our town, our sense of identity, and unites us as an island linking us to that history inherited from our ancestors and that is our duty to preserve for future generations.»
The mayor of Valverde, Carlos Brito, highlighted the inauguration of this Office, «which begins a path that we have been waiting for a long time. After eight years without being able to celebrate La Bajada, we are closer to the moment that unites all the people of El Hierro, from here and there, in unity and faith, and he recalled that the capital City Council is the bearer of the «Vow.»
Finally, the president of the Cabildo of El Hierro, Alpidio Armas, explained that this office aims, as has happened before, to «give an insular content to a tradition in which an entire island participates, creating that homogeneous link with our quadrennial gathering, with the Descent of the Virgin of Los Reyes, in this edition, perhaps with more desire than ever due to the 8-year hiatus that unforeseen circumstances have not allowed us to fulfill our Vow to the patroness of El Hierro,» he remembered.
«As the legend says – stated the insular president – that accompanies the institutional image of this LXXI Descent, together we will make that «Path of emotions» from the Dehesa to the Villa de Valverde, a meeting without distinctions or exclusions, fraternal and hospitable as a faithful exponent of the personality of the people of El Hierro.»
Alpidio Armas recalled that the Insular Office of La Bajada is located in a building in the center of the capital of El Hierro, «in the place known by our predecessors as El Puente, and in one of those emblematic commercial premises that, with the commercial name of «El Encanto,» its owner, Pedro Morales, wanted to show gratitude as an emigrant to Cuba, for which the Caribbean country offered him prosperity.»
The coincidences of this linguistic parallelism ‘bridge’ and ‘charm’ with the Descent of the Virgin of Los Reyes is precisely the temporal bridge that we all the people of El Hierro from here and abroad long for and await to show that our traditions are part of our identity and our way of being. The island of El Hierro would not be conceivable without that vital clock that marks each Descent. The heartbeat of a town where the heart island beats to the sound of drums, whistles, and chácaras, around our most respected and revered symbol, the Beloved Mother. It goes without saying that our tradition also has ‘the charm’ of showing our best attire, that of open arms, generosity, hospitality, because the path of emotions has that proven charm of attracting everyone who enjoys our Descent,» he explained after his intervention in this inauguration.
In addition to the informative and organizational scope of the social and cultural events that are programmed, from this office, contents will be elaborated for digital and written media, as well as for the Bajada website, www.bajadaelhierro.com, and its own social networks, reported the president, which will help in the task of disseminating all the information and communication related to this new edition of the tradition of El Hierro.
