The major fiesta or festival held in Teror is the Fiesta in Honour of Nuestra Señora del Pino (Our Lady of the Pine), patron of the island of Gran Canaria. This is held on September 8th, and dates back to the seventeenth century when the statue of the Virgen del Pino was taken to the capital of the island in order to pray for rain. In the eighteenth century the pilgrimages of the eighth of September started to become popular events, and these days they are one of the main attractions of this fiesta. The meeting of the faithful and the procession-goers on the road to Teror throughout the night are now a custom that draws thousands of visitors and residents of the island.
La Plaza de Teror is the arrival point of all the procession-goers in the early hours of the morning, with the festivities continuing throughout the remainder of the day.
The last Sunday of July is when the Fiesta del Agua (Water Festival) is held, coinciding with the harvest time. This festival goes back to the nineteenth century and was a time to pray in order to keep hunger, epidemic and drought away from the municipality. An offering and a procession, as well as a parade and cattle fairs, are some of the events organised around this festival.
The Fiesta de San José was formerly the Fiesta Mayor de Teror, after the Fiesta del Pino. This is held on the first Sunday of May, and it is where the local people take pride in their traditions and crafts, and there are also cattle fairs.
Teror is one of the oldest populated areas of Gran Canaria, although the major occupation occurred with the settlement of wealthy families during the sixteenth century after the conquest of Gran Canaria.
The history of the town of Teror is linked to the apparition of the image of the Virgen del Pino. In fact, since the fifteenth century Teror has been considered a Villa Mariana or religious capital, as it is the home of the patron saint of the island.
The growth of the municipality, as well as being linked to the fact that it is the centre of pilgrimage in the island, is tied to agriculture and livestock raising, which were responsible for the demographic and social growth in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the eighteenth century the growing of new crops such as the potato and corn led to a situation of prosperity never seen before. The economic splendour of the era was reflected in the architecture, as it was from this time onwards that most of the emblematic buildings of Teror were built.
After 1835 Teror also acquired a political and social role, with the implantation of the municipal model that arose from the Cortes de Cádiz of 1812.
After the eighteenth century one of the major social conflicts of the municipality arose in Teror, mainly due to the distribution of water resources among the residents of Teror and Valleseco, which at that time were within the same municipality. Added to this conflict were the protests of the residents of Moya and Guía around 1810, due to the ploughing of the Doramas lands. Therefore, the ownership of land and water played an important role in the history of Teror as one of the main economic bases of the municipality in the nineteenth century.
The municipality of Teror is located in the midlands of the north of Gran Canaria. It has a surface area of 27 square kilometres and is at an altitude of 589 metres above sea level.
It is a municipality characterised by the irregular nature of its perimeter. It is bordered by Arucas in the north, and by the municipalities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Brígida and San Mateo in the east. In the south it borders with Valleseco, and in the northeast with Firgas.
The attraction of the town of Teror not only lies in the great devotion to the Virgin Mary - la Virgen del Pino - patron of the island; Teror is also one of the municipalities of Gran Canaria with the greatest value in historical and natural terms. Its geographical location (the town of Teror is located in a valley surrounded by high rocky mountains) means that the climate of the municipality is extreme in some seasons of the year, for example in summer, when the temperature in the town can reach 40º C, or in winter, when the residents face temperatures as low as 4º C.
In the present day, the municipality of Teror is very clearly experiencing economic growth, primarily because of its proximity to the capital of the island, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Economic dynamism is characteristic in Teror: on the one hand the agricultural and livestock raising activities that have supplied the local market for several centuries are maintained, and on the other hand the municipality has an interesting and prosperous food industry which is highly regarded throughout the island and in the rest of the archipelago. Confectionary, sausage and salami products and Agua de Teror (water) are a few examples of this emerging industrial economy in the town.
The municipality of Teror has also experienced an increase in the number of tourists and visitors in recent years, which has meant a diversification of the economy towards the tourist sector of rural holiday accommodation.
