In Tenerife, they are preserving the tradition of making paper decorations for the festival of the Virgin of Light.

María Candelaria Méndez Hernández and Eduvigis Pérez Delgado are the last ones who know the secrets of creating paper decorations for the Festival of Our Lady of Light. This festival is very important for the districts of La Luz and Las Candias in the town of La Orotava, and today is a big day for them. Although the tradition is old, few people know about it. Mentions of it can be found in documents dating back to 1910.

Previously, the decorations had a religious meaning. They were made of beech branches and placed near temples and along the road where the procession took place. This custom has survived to this day.

Later, when colored paper appeared, the decorations became more diverse. Flowers, pompoms, garlands, and more complex elements were added, such as lanterns or a large ship on a wire frame with seven cannons, symbolizing the seven sacraments. It is still used for decoration.

Locals are very careful when making these decorations, as the paper is easily damaged. Therefore, they are hung at the last moment. This year, 3,000 sheets of colored paper were used.

At the Festival of Our Lady of Light, there was always a competition to see who could decorate their district the best. Every year, the turn passed from one district to another. This time it was Las Candias' turn. But now fewer and fewer people are involved in the preparation, so the competition has been forgotten. The residents of Las Candias invited the La Luz festival committee to help them.

Everyone agreed because they were afraid that the tradition would disappear again, as it did at the end of the last century. In 2006, in Las Candias, it was revived by a group of enthusiasts, while in La Luz it almost disappeared. No one knows why this happened. Perhaps it is now easier and cheaper to buy ready-made decorations than to make them yourself.

Now they have a motto: "In unity there is strength!". They want more and more people to get involved in the preparation every year. In 2026, the La Luz school will join them, as well as members of the Association of the Elderly, which is headed by Eduvigis.

They want children to "work" on the festivals of their native land. "We want the older generation to pass on their experience to the younger generation, so that they value the history and culture of their people and do not let it disappear," explains Councilor Felipe David Benítez, who is himself from La Luz. Therefore, the experience of María and Eduvigis is very important.

84-year-old María Candelaria, head of the Las Candias festival committee, loves this tradition. She doesn't even remember who taught her, but she has been involved in it since childhood. She says that before, after work, everyone gathered in a room opposite the church, which no longer exists. "There were many men there," she recalls. Now there are few of them left, mostly women, and there are barely a dozen of them. It was a time for socializing: they prepared decorations, laughed, talked and always "brought wine and lupins for a snack."

As before, preparation begins long before the holiday, and the technique of making paper decorations has not changed. "For chandeliers, fringes are made from strips of paper, and for pompoms, squares are needed, which are folded, pierced and tied," the craftswomen explain. Some things have changed to make the work easier, such as glue. It is no longer made from boiled green potatoes, which were "rubbed on the thread" to glue the decorations.

But the main thing is the desire of local residents to preserve their holidays and the "spirit" of having a good time. This remains unchanged.

To protect the traditional technique of making paper decorations, the municipality plans to apply to the Cabildo of Tenerife to have it included in the Island Catalogue of Cultural Heritage. This is necessary to preserve it as an important part of intangible cultural heritage.