May 3rd , the Day of the Cross has been part of Christian celebrations since the year 324BC, when the Emperor Constantine sent his mother, Saint Helena, on a religious tour of Syria, Palestine and Jerusalem where it is said she discovered the True Cross on May 3rd.
May is the month of flowers, and their adornment of the cross is a custom widely practised in Spain and Latin America, celebrating Jesus Christ as the fruit of the tree of life. In the Canary Islands the tradition is very popular among the people here. In the capital of Tenerife, Santa Cruz, the tradition is linked to the foundation of the city. Many towns with the name ‘Cruz’ have long celebrated the tradition, but others too. In Adeje we began making public floral crosses in 2012 to revive the custom locally. Crosses are made in all of the boroughs towns and villages organised by resident associations, and erected in plazas and main streets,
Looking back, among the more memorable Adeje crosses is the ‘Cruz de Morro Afonso’ in Fañabe, which was erected on the mountain top by missionaries who visited the village in 1961, and which is illuminated every year on this date.
On the eve of May 3rd many small crosses will also be seen in house windows and balconies, crosses covered in flowers. And this year, because of Covid 19, the council is asking people to be imaginative and make crosses from whatever they have at home and hang them from windows and balconies to carry on the tradition.
