Tenerife visitors 1Arrival and reception
Tenerife visitors
Original title: Tenerifenhos
Account of the excursion of residents of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Madeira in December 1922–January 1923, returning a Madeiran visit and coinciding with the fifth centenary of the island's discovery. The visit led to reciprocal naming of squares: Praça da Madeira in Santa Cruz and Praça de Tenerife in Funchal.
1Arrival and reception
In May 1922 a large number of Madeirans visited Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where both the authorities and the local people gave them a warm and splendid welcome. It was agreed that the people of Tenerife would make an excursion to Madeira to return the Madeirans’ visit, and this excursion took place at the end of December of the same year, during the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the discovery of our island.
The Tenerife party arrived at the landing place of Funchal on 28 December at about 1 p.m., aboard the steamer Viera y Clavijo. Various official figures and private individuals at once went on board to greet the excursionists, among whom was the alcaide (town officer with police and jail duties), Don Andrés Orosco.
The party landed at the Cais da Pontinha (‘little point’) at about half past four in the afternoon. The first launch brought the alcaide, accompanied by the Spanish consul and the banker Henrique V. de Castro, while the other boats carried the rest of the excursionists, 76 in number, among them several ladies and girls. A little after 5 o’clock the procession set off. At its head went A Academia (‘The Academy’) with its processional banner, followed by the excursionists and those who had gone to receive them, including the president and councillors (vereadores) of the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal), and finally a long line of motor cars carrying many other people.
When they reached the avenue of João Gonçalves Zarco, the excursionists were greeted with the Spanish anthem, as they had been on landing. The same anthem was played again as they entered the town hall (Paços do Concelho), where Dr Teixeira Jardim, the illustrious president of the Council, delivered a fine address, to which the distinguished Tenerife visitor Don Andrés Orosco replied.
The reception given to the Tenerife party at the palace of the District General Council (Junta Geral) was equally splendid. Speeches were made by Dr Vasco Marques, Don Andrés Orosco and Dr Fernando Tolentino da Costa, the last of these when a glass of champagne was offered to our illustrious guests in one of the rooms of the palace. Not all the excursionists came on the steamer Viera y Clavijo: some had arrived on the 26th aboard the steamer Andormha, on its way to England.
2Visit, return and reciprocal honours
The visitors from Tenerife were warmly received everywhere. On 3 January they were offered an afternoon meal at the Terreiro da Luta (‘ground of the fight’) and tea at Monte (‘hill’). They visited many places in Funchal and its surroundings, and some of them displayed their musical talents at the Dr Manuel de Arriaga theatre, where they were much appreciated and applauded.
They returned to Tenerife on the steamer Viera y Clavijo on 4 January 1923. On 4 February of the same year the ayuntamiento (Spanish municipal council) of Santa Cruz (‘Holy Cross’) approved a proposal by the alcaide (town officer with police and jail duties), Don Andrés Orosco, to give the name of the island of Madeira to the Theatre square in that city, as a token of gratitude to the Madeirans for the way in which the excursionists had been treated here.
The plaque bearing this name was unveiled on 4 May. The ceremony was attended by the civil and military authorities, and also by the Portuguese consul in Tenerife, who represented the Municipality of Funchal. As the curtain covering the plaque was drawn back, the municipal band played the Spanish and Portuguese anthems, after which the consul and the alcaide Don Andrés Orosco gave speeches.
The Funchal Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal do Funchal) returned the honour paid to the Madeirans in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife by giving the name Praça de Tenerife (‘Tenerife Square’) to a considerable part of the old Campo da Barca (‘boat field’), after suitably adapting the site for that purpose.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 02-
The Orfeão Madeirense and many Madeirans visited the Canary Islands, performing and being warmly received in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
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A delegation of Tenerife excursionists arrived in Funchal aboard the Viera y Clavijo for the fifth-centenary festivities of the discovery.
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The Tenerife excursionists visiting for the quincentenary returned home.
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife council approved naming the Praça do Teatro after Madeira, and the naming plaque was unveiled on 4 May.
Place
Places mentioned · 10
Abroad
- Avenida Zarco
Funchal. Avenue where the procession was greeted with the Spanish anthem.
Avenida Zarco is an avenue in Funchal that replaced the former Entrada da Cidade, built in 1839 when the Saúde gate was pulled down. Buildings on or overlooking it included the old Commercial Association building, which housed the Escola Elementar do Comércio, the house of the Clube Republicano da Madeira and the Club Restauração. A triumphal arch was erected on it for the quincentenary of the discovery of Madeira, and a procession of visitors from Tenerife was greeted there with the Spanish anthem.
- Cais da Pontinha
Funchal. Landing place of the Tenerife visitors.
The Pontinha quay in Funchal, built in 1876–78 and improved with the breakwater works. It was the landing place of notable visitors including the Empress of Austria and the Unknown Soldier's remains in 1921, and the terminus of a water supply for shipping.
- Campo da Barca
Funchal. Part of it was renamed Praça de Tenerife in reciprocation.
Campo da Barca is a public square in Funchal, built under Governor Florencio José Correia de Melo, handed to the municipality in 1818 and named after the Conde da Barca. It was the site of the disinfection post, which was attacked in popular riots, and of the house where the Asilo da Infância operated from 1836. Part of the square was later renamed Praça de Tenerife.
- Funchal
City where the excursionists were received.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Monte
Funchal. Where the visitors were offered tea.
Parish of Nossa Senhora do Monte above Funchal, at about 600 m, where leafing occurs later than in Funchal. It contains the localities of Jardim Botânico, Igreja and Marmeleiros and the Quinta de Sant'Ana. The Elucidário notes its many plants, such as acacias and Sonchus fruticosus.
- Plaza de la Isla de la Madera
Spain. Square in Santa Cruz de Tenerife renamed after Madeira in 1923.
Square in Santa Cruz de Tenerife renamed after Madeira in 1923.
- Praça de Tenerife
Funchal. Funchal square named in honour of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Praça de Tenerife is a square in Funchal named in honour of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It was formed from the southern part of the Campo da Barca, and the old Praça de São João has been incorporated into it.
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Spain. Canary city visited by Madeirans in 1922, whose residents returned the visit.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a city in the Canary Islands. Madeirans visited it in 1922 and its residents returned the visit, and its mayor attended the festivities of the quincentenary of the discovery of Madeira.
- Teatro Manuel de Arriaga
Funchal. Theatre where some visitors performed music.
Funchal's municipal theatre, built with a loan by the council on the former convent grounds and the site of the 1823 market. Begun in 1884 and inaugurated in 1888 as Teatro D. Maria Pia, it was renamed after Manuel de Arriaga in 1921. It hosted revues such as A Madeira por dentro, lectures and concerts, including the 1921 orfeão.
- Terreiro da Luta
Funchal. Site of a lunch offered to the visitors on 3 January 1923.
The Terreiro da Luta is a scenic site in Monte parish at 850 m, where legend places an apparition of the Virgin. From 1912 it was the terminus of the Monte railway, with a restaurant, and official lunches for distinguished visitors were held there. It has a bronze statue of Zarco and the monument to Nossa Senhora da Paz, inaugurated in 1927.
People
People mentioned · 05-
Mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife who led the 1922 excursion to Madeira and proposed naming a square after the island.
- Arsénio Teixeira Jardimb. 1887
President of the Funchal council who welcomed the Tenerife excursionists at the town hall in 1922.
- Fernando Tolentino da Costab. 1873
Gave a champagne toast to the Tenerife visitors at the Junta Geral palace in 1922.
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Banker who accompanied the Tenerife mayor on landing at Funchal in 1922.
- Vasco Gonçalves Marquesb. 1877
Spoke at the reception for the Tenerife visitors in the Junta Geral palace in 1922.