Lanzarote Gets Ready for Corpus Christi Salt Carpets

This evening, organisations will gather in church squares around Lanzarote to prepare colourful carpets of salt for the Corpus Christi celebrations.

The carpets will be on display on Sunday morning until midday, when a mass is held in the church. A procession led by the priest then walks over all of the salt carpets.

The ceremony is meant to symbolise the fleeting beauty of life, and flowers are often used to create the carpets on the western Canary Islands. However, flowers are in short supply on Lanzarote, so brightly coloured sea salt is used instead.

Salt carpets can usually be found in Tías, Yaiza and Teguise, but the largest concentration is around the church of San Gines in Arrecife.