San nicolas de tolentino church

Fiesta del Charco (or Embarbascá) is a festive tradition, with centuries of history, that takes place in the municipality of La Aldea de San Nicolás on the island of Gran Canaria, every September 11 to celebrate the patron saint festivities of San Nicholas of Tolentino.

It is one of the important, popular and multitudinous festivals celebrated in the Canary Islands.^[1]

Origin

The Fiesta del Charco tries to represent and pay homage to the way of life of the Canarian ancestors.

This celebration revives an ancient indigenous people fishing technique called embarbascada, which included pouring sap from plants such as cardon or tabaiba to cause a sedative effect on the fish in the puddles of the coast and, thus, to be able to capture them more easily with the hands.^[2][3]

This practice remained alive on the island until the  20th century, and then it became a tradition in the patron saint festivities in the north of the i