Go ask Alice.. about Masons, merchants and much more misleading muses

 We are heading up the hill and past Pitaya.  I believe they sell fancy fruits.  Here is the website. https://www.pitaber.com/  Nikoletta gave five stars.   We were on vacation in Tenerife and I found this farm on Google Maps. We wanted to buy 2-3 dragon fruits for my little son because he loves them. They would have sold them only by the box, but the lady was so kind that she gave my little son a few pieces as a gift 🥰 We thank her very much again 🩷💝 We have been on vacation in many places, but we have never met such kind locals anywhere 💗    FC added ‘Fantastic place and fruit! And very kind, a pleasure to visit’



Let's talk about the flag of Tenerife.  Think of the Scottish flag.  You have got it.  I bought one from Midland Flags.  It said it was a Scottish flag.  The Tenerife one is slightly darker a blue.  It is Pantone 280. Now you know. So what is this all about.  Well, they needed a maritime flag and in 1845 the Royal Order said let's go blue and white. It became official in 1989.

So, why are the flags of Scotland and Tenerife similar?  It comes to mind that you only have so many designs for flags.  People abhor a vacuum and theories jump in.  One is that it was to honour the brave Scots they fought in 1797 at the Battle of Santa Cruz. Others suggest it was the strong mercantile links between the two countries or even the Masons.  So I went down the rabbit hole - and the Jefferson Airplane line ‘go ask Alice, I think she’ll know.’  Well I did and maybe she did as well.





All the first hit English language sites say ‘It was all to do with Scotland.’  Armed with Menu Spanish and Google Translate I dug deeper.  So, let us start with the cross.  You can call it the St Andrew’s Cross or the Cross of Burgundy - yep, Habsburg vibes.  In 1791 Lieutenant General Jose de Mazarredo was drawing up flags for maritime signals. This was the one for the Canary Islands. It is suggested that these flags were not meant to be related to existing territorial flags. When the maritime province of the Canaries was divided in two, in 1867, Tenerife kept this one.  



Google maps declares out route ‘mostly flat.  We’ve gone up 300m about 3km so, we aren’t Boston Flat are we.  At the top is the Caserio de Icor.  Two weeks ago Sandra wrote a fulsome review ‘A little-known site in the south of the island that is well worth a visit. Located in the municipality of Arico, this historic site was the first settlement of indigenous Guanches who had mingled with the Castilian population. It consists of a group of houses, most of them two stories high, with the upper part used as a granary for better grain storage, and the lower part as a dwelling. Some buildings with balconies providing  access to the upper part are noteworthy. It is a 16th-century farmhouse that has been gradually renovated, although some houses need to be restored to prevent them from falling down.  https://vendevisitaatenerife.com/caserio-de-icor-municipio-de-arico-lugar-historico-de-tenerife/




We will end here, admiring the view and wondering how long the houses will remain.













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