On the opposite side of the municipal roads are the districts of La Vera de Barranco Hondo and Toscas Don José Barrios and Doña Ana María or María Castaño, two illustrious citicens to whom these vacant lots belonged along with others in the area of La Victoria de Acentejo that today is called the area of María Giménez.
The name «tosca” or “toscales» was used from very early on for the vacant lots located in this area, where several families settled because the Los Sauces ravine was a source of water at certain times of the year as is evidenced by its washing places.
The “Los Sauces” Washing Area
This is located in the Los Sauces ravine, between the districts of Tosca de Ana María and Tosca Barrio. A beautiful place of great ethnographic value and yet not widely known. This area of abundant vegetation depends on the amount of rainwater, which is why many months of the year the basins remain dry.
The locals used to come to this place to wash their clothes and everyday items because its waters remained clean during the rainy season. The wealthiest came first, then the middle class, and finally the poorest and peasants when the water had been fully used.
Festivities in honour of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne
They take place on July 25th and 26th. They began in 1982 and have become a popular festival from that moment on, celebrating with all kinds of games and festive acts.
Hermitage of Saint Anne
Until a few years ago (1986) there was no church in Tosca de Ana María. The residents of both districts decided to buy a staue of Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, in 1982, and kept it in an old building called “Casa de los Maestros”. It took a few years for them to settle in some local halls and then move on to a hermitage with adjacent to square and sports hall, which became the centre of the neighbourhood.
