Candelaria, August 15 – It all began around 1390, when two Guanche shepherds from the kingdom of Güímar discovered, near the Chimisay ravine, a wooden figure depicting a woman. It was the image of the Virgin of Candelaria, which would go on to change the spiritual history of the entire archipelago.
According to the chronicle of Friar Alonso de Espinosa (1594), one of the shepherds was struck paralyzed and the other rendered mute upon touching the statue. Frightened, they brought it before their king, the Guanche mencey, who decided to safeguard it in a sacred cave in the coastal area of Candelaria. Unfamiliar with Christianity, the Guanches began to venerate it.
Every year on August 14, this event is commemorated with the Guanche Ceremony, a sacred-historical reenactment that draws thousands of people. The following day is the official feast of the General Patroness of the Canary Islands.
Today the Virgin is venerated in the Basilica of Candelaria and has become a symbol of Canarian identity and unity, blending ancestral culture with Christian faith.