What is on in Granadilla de Abona, and when?
Granadilla de Abona becomes a second stage for the 31st Festival Internacional del Cuento de Los Silos from 12 to 14 November, the town council (Ayuntamiento) says. The main festival in the island’s north-west does not start until December.
It opens on Thursday 12 November at 19:00 in the Antiguo Convento Franciscano. Gonzalo Ortega, president of the Academia Canaria de la Lengua (Canary Islands language academy), gives a talk.
On Friday 13 November, the Plaza de El Calvario hosts a literary installation for families by Mar González Novell and Xavier Aniceto Marín. The day also brings the music-and-literature show “El cielo de Granadilla” and stories from the Chilean storyteller Alejandra Hurtado Cicarelli.
Nobody has published times for Friday and Saturday.
What does this mean for visitors and residents in the south?
Anyone living or holidaying in the south of Tenerife need not drive to the north-west for these evenings. The main festival stays in Los Silos, but Granadilla de Abona brings part of it south.
Language remains the hurdle, as the guests on stage come from the Canary Islands, Chile and Costa Rica, so a Spanish-language programme is likely. Whether there are translations or help for guests without Spanish is not known.
Whether entry is free or registration is needed, the details so far do not say. Anyone planning to go should check the town council’s website and the festival page on the official website beforehand.
There are no notices of closures around the Plaza de El Calvario or the Antiguo Convento Franciscano. Nor are there any official recommendations on getting there or parking.
Who organises the festival, and how big is it?
The Asociación Cultural para el Desarrollo y Fomento de la Lectura y el Cuento runs the festival. Its director is Ernesto Rodríguez Abad.
All that is certain is that the festival has been running since the mid-1990s. According to the festival, it was founded in 1995, but the numbering of the editions points to 1996.
The 30th edition in 2025 ran from 5 to 8 December and offered around 129 activities, according to the festival. Storytellers came from Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, France, Venezuela and Spain.
Granadilla de Abona is a stop for the third time in 2026, and the festival page calls it the third extension there. The town council had earlier announced a first extension and a date of 14 to 16 November, but the year and content are not confirmed.
What does the main festival offer in December?
The main festival runs from Friday 4 to Monday 7 December in Los Silos, according to the programme. The opening on 4 December at 18:00 brings a talk by Trifonia Melibea Obono from Equatorial Guinea and a tribute to Antonio Lorenzo Ramos.
The programme names two guests. They are Nicolás Buenaventura and Rodolfo González.
The focus in 2026 is the lavanderas (washerwomen). The programme includes the storytelling walk “Cuentos en los lavaderos”, 1.5 kilometres long and rated easy.
Many events are free or open until seats run out, according to the programme. For others, you collect an invitation at the information point.
Tomaticket sells places for sessions with limited capacity.
The festival’s home page shows a longer period, from 16 November to 7 December, at several venues. This probably includes spin-offs such as Granadilla, but that is an assumption.
What is still open?
Whether entry in Granadilla de Abona stays free and whether you must register is open. The exact times for Friday and Saturday are also missing.
Whether Granadilla pays the association is unknown, as no source names a budget or a funder. The festival’s own material only mentions cooperation with the town council, public bodies and neighbours.
The festival home page lists two dates for Granadilla: 12 to 14 November and 14 to 16 November. The town council gives 12 to 14 November, and the second probably dates from the previous year.
After Thursday’s opening, the Friday and Saturday programmes follow in Granadilla de Abona. The festival then moves to Los Silos from 4 to 7 December.