Hachitos de San Juan (St John’s Eve Torches) 2023

In Icod de los Vinos, St John’s Eve (23 June) is a bright, colourful evening – the prelude to one of the year’s most awaited festivals. Hachitos were torches made from Canary Island pine by the aboriginal peoples as a source of light.

Hachos are 2- to 3-metre-high candleholders consisting of wooden sticks and bowls wrapped in oil-soaked rags, where the torches are lit. They are decorated with leaves and sticks, flowers and ribbons. At sunset, the bonfires are lit and the parade begins, moving from La Vega to El Amparo to the sound of tajaraste music and dance, joined by hundreds of merrymakers.