Friday evening: first the mass, then the concert
The Plaza del Cristo is in use well before the concert. According to the official programme, El Cristo Urbano runs from 17:00 to 21:00 on the nearby Plaza de la Junta Suprema, with rap battles, skate, BMX and parkour. At 20:00 the evening mass of the Solemne Octavario begins in the Real Santuario; it is held daily from 15 to 20 September.
At the same hour, V Cristo Rock 2026 starts at the Sala Aguere Cultural, Calle Herradores 47, with Heisenberg, GunPowder, Overture and Xebeche. A caveat: the official programme gives 20:00, the promoter's ticketing site 21:00. Admission is free but a ticket is issued through the site — check the time before setting out.
Getting there: the tram runs all night
Tram Line 1 links the Intercambiador in Santa Cruz with the Trinidad terminus in La Laguna — 21 stops over 12.5 kilometres, and a few minutes on foot from there into the old town. Metropolitano de Tenerife states: Monday to Friday 06:00 to 24:00, with a 24-hour service at weekends and on public holidays.
That is what settles this particular evening. 18 September is a Friday, and the weekend night service begins on the Friday-to-Saturday night: the operator gives a frequency of 30 minutes until 06:00. So you can still get back at three in the morning — not because of any special timetable, but on the ordinary weekend service.
Because there is no special timetable. For 18 September, Metropolitano de Tenerife has published nothing; its most recent fiesta notice covered Monday 14 September. TITSA has announced no extra buses either; the winter timetable that took effect on 7 September applies.
By car: closures, parking bans, a relocated taxi rank
The car is the worse idea. According to Diario de Avisos and Atlántico Hoy, reporting the municipal traffic orders, Calle Nava y Grimón is closed from 15:00 to 03:00 on days with events on the square; parking is banned in the surrounding streets from 15:00 until the early hours. Further closures are possible on Camino de Las Peras and Camino de La Rúa.
The taxi rank is moved during the fiestas to Camino de Las Peras, between Padre Adán and Tabares de Cala. The town has designated no official park-and-ride. That leaves the workable answer: park in Santa Cruz or at a Line 1 stop and do the rest by tram.
Saturday to Monday: what is still to come
Saturday 19: at 18:00 on the Plaza de la Concepción, the Noche del Patrimonio with "Monumenta Performance", after the work of the artist Yapci Ramos; second showing at 20:00. At 20:30 the Festival Siroco with León Benavente, Victorias, Cervatana, Los Blosy and Belinda.
Sunday 20: at 10:00 on the Plaza del Cristo, the third and last Domingo de Feria Infantil with the family show "Güicho y la Banda". At 11:00 the final of the ox-cart hauling contest at the Casa del Ganadero. At 12:00 on the Plaza de la Catedral, the 19th concert of the Universidad de La Laguna symphonic band. At 17:00 the 11th Festival Achamán with Los Gofiones.
Monday 21, Octava del Cristo: at 20:00 the eucharist, followed by the Procesión de la Octava along the customary route. Back on the Plaza del Cristo the image is placed so that it faces the Fuegos de la Octava at 23:00 — the end of the fiestas. There is no romería left in these four days.
Who Luz Casal is
Luz Casal, born in 1958 in Boimorto in Galicia and raised in Avilés, released her first single in 1980. She became known beyond Spain in 1991 through Pedro Almodóvar's film Tacones lejanos, singing Agustín Lara's bolero Piensa en mí — the song made her a household name in France in particular. In 2001 she won a Goya for best original song, and in 2009 she received the French Medal of Arts and Culture. The municipal programme describes the evening as a mix of new songs and the major pieces of her career. No setlist has been published.