Tuineje marks All Saints’ Day with large family turnout, strong community participation and a cemetery adorned for all

Tuineje cemetery saw a large turnout of families this Sunday, 1 November, as people came to remember their loved ones, lay flowers and keep the tradition of All Saints’ Day alive. The cemetery, one of the oldest in Fuerteventura and built on land donated by Las Simonas, was especially well adorned thanks to the help of numerous residents.

The Cemetery Department has encouraged public participation through workshops on making floral arrangements at the senior centres in Tuineje and Gran Tarajal. The initiative has been running for several years and gives residents a role in caring for and maintaining the places where their relatives rest.

Among those taking part is Juana Camejo Hernández, who explains how the preparations are organised and notes that residents’ work also extends to graves that receive no visits from family members.

“Every year we decorate with the flowerpots,” says Camejo. “We also look after those who have died and have nobody to bring them flowers. We make arrangements for them and put them there too,” she told La Voz de Fuerteventura.

She says that around twenty graves regularly receive these arrangements, along with other small bouquets prepared during the workshops. This collective effort helps ensure that the cemetery is decorated throughout.

A day of remembrance and reunions

The day brought together residents from different parts of the municipality, as well as people who live elsewhere and return at this time of year to visit their relatives’ graves.

Julián Marrero Cabrera highlights the cemetery’s age and the social importance of the occasion.

The visits offer a chance to reconnect with people they scarcely see during the rest of the year, something he considers especially valuable in an age of digital communication, when “without realising it, direct relationships between people change a great deal”, he reflects.

Among those who visited on Sunday was Pilar Pérez, whose parents and three siblings are buried in the cemetery.

For her, the day brings the sadness of remembering those she has lost, but also the satisfaction of finding their resting place in good condition. “I’m very pleased because the cemetery is very clean. It’s like your own home, and I like how it looks — very nicely decorated with greenery,” she says.

Cristina Montesdeoca also praises the maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery by Tuineje Town Council, noting that the grounds are cared for throughout the year and receive extra attention for All Saints’ Day. “It’s very well looked after, very beautiful, with all the flowers watered and everything neatly in its place,” she says.

She also highlights the atmosphere at this time of year, when the cemetery takes on a special colour and “you even feel like taking a walk here, because it’s so peaceful”.

Among those attending was Miguel Andújar, the Tuineje Town Council councillor responsible for cemeteries, who stressed the importance of keeping the facilities in good condition and making visits possible throughout the year.

The councillor praised residents’ involvement in a tradition that continues to bring together different generations of the municipality and is one of its most highly regarded social events.

“It is a source of pride as a councillor to see residents keeping our traditions alive by visiting cemeteries, bringing flowers and praying,” he said.

A day that invites people to remember those who are no longer physically with them, but remain present in the memories and hearts of their families.