1979-1995 VILLAFÁFILA

Villafáfila comes from centuries ago its bullfighting tradition, popular tradition tells that it comes from the moment that King Ferdinand the Catholic was in the Villa in 1506 between June 22 and 27 when he signed the Villafáfila Concord, also coinciding with the festivities that then They were for San Juan.

It is well known about running of the bulls in the countryside and the meat palisades that the neighbors made to turn the bulls around the countryside, the bulls celebrated within the town in the Plaza del Reloj or Town Hall and later in the Plaza Mayor, had a tapial bullring, in los llamares meadow, in 1934 which was used until 1955 one of the traditions linked to the bulls was the custom of asking for them on Santiago day at the door of the mayor.

Mr. Elías Rodríguez Rodríguez, has well informed us of this: News stories about the running of the bulls in Villafáfila. The Opinion of Zamora 2000. and villafafila.net - http://villafafila.net/encierros/encierros.htm

The day before at night, the craftsmen and servants who were in full harvesting task would come to sleep at home and at night they would sleep in the threshing floors. On the 25th, people went out into the street with cowbells to ask for the bulls through the streets, intoning couplets and songs composed for that purpose, with a jot rhythm, some of whose lyrics are preserved:

Today the lyrics may seem rude or wild, but you have to put them in the context of the village 70, 80 or 100 years ago. Most of the population was made up of day laborers, craftsmen, shepherds, small farmers, poor people and widows, with very harsh living, working and housing conditions. The festivals and the bulls were one of the few means of escape. In addition, those who formed the town councils, even with the regime changes of the 19th century, were almost always "the rich", and these excesses in the request of the bulls were a way of channeling social confrontation.

In 1950, in the midst of the dictatorial years, when people gathered asking for the bulls at the door of the mayor, Valentín Rodríguez, he threw a piece of adobe from the window at the attendees and the show ended.

Although in a general saying it is called heifer, in Villafáfila it was called "Chota" very common in the town to designate a female bovine, it was even called "Jata" .

With the arrival of Democracy, its first mayor being Marcelino Trabadillo Alonso, April 3, 1979 - October 23, 1980.

That same year, 1979, the heifer was brought on July 25 to Santiago, but the mayor, who did not like bullfighting and rather opposed not giving them, can simply say that under his mandate it happened, the real manager of the arrival of la Chota from the City Council was D. Isidro Domínguez Calzada, at first he was deputy mayor and then Mayor from October 23, 1980 - May 8, 1983, he had already participated since 1970 with other neighbors in the return of the bullfights in San Roque after not There have been since 1955, he was even the one who propitiated that the City Council gave the bulls at the festivities with the entry of democracy, until 1995 when he was a councilman, he was always the one who led the organization of the bullfights.

He had a Chota brought for July 25, the day of Santiago, which would be bullfighted until the eve of San Roque.

The bullring in San Marcos was set up the previous days around the toril, first with the wooden fences that were sleepers of the train, which are the ones that had been made in the 70s with the return of the bulls to San Roque.

Three burladeros were placed, one right at the exit door, the other two, one to the left and the other to the right of the square, which were made with two sleepers and a threshing floor.

They continued to bring the Chota and successive mayors D. Luis Gallego Cañibano May 8, 1983 - June 10, 1987, D. Luis Fernando Fidalgo June 10, 1987 - May 28, 1994, between 1987 - 88 the wooden fences are replaced by iron ones soldadas, D. Antonio Ruiz García 28 May 1994 - 28 May 1995 with D. Antonio Jesús Rodríguez Valverde 28 May 1995, it was the last year that the Chota was brought in 1995.

Well, for that 25th day, the festivity of Santiago Apóstol, a small Chota was brought as a reminiscence that before the bulls were requested, the day was already a hubbub that the population was aware of the Chota, its arrival in the afternoon, especially the youth, around eight o'clock La Chota arrived, being released from the entrance of Regato street with a small rope, a large crowd of young people on the run led her through the streets until they took her to the bullring and there the most daring to cut it, the fences on the outside were filled with neighbors and foreigners to see the most intrepid, some stir that another not beyond a small sustillo.

The following afternoons to the day of Santiago la Chota took place at 8:00 p.m. , she was incited from the face or, on the one hand, with a shirt or a cape, running from one side to the other, what a tension to have her glued to the ass and, as they say, to burnt horn.

Whoever got involved took their romp, sometimes you flipped, other times to the ground, or passed you over an oak tree marking the hoof well, or made a shred on your pants or shirt, so fast that you were scared you slammed into the fence, or jumped with your ass on the ground, some dislocation occurred normally of little consideration.

Emilio Rodríguez Montero, who caught him when he was good-looking and strong, stood against the fence, La Chota headed towards him and undeterred caught her by the horns at the same time that he told all the kids;

"I send it to the right or to the left" and to one side he released it.

Many times there were comical situations, fighting her on a bicycle, of course in the end the one who was carrying her on one side and the bike on the other came out, two for a small testada.

Another is to fight it with a donkey like Román Figuera Ferrero did with a pike and everything. Or the perantano dog that was daring and made a face at him by barking at close range, until Chota went out in search of him and the dog with its tail down whistled outside the fence. The one who entered through the burladero, who was caught off guard by the emburriado that he took. So many vicissitudes happened those summer afternoons that La Chota entertained us that all of us who spent there had good memories.

La Chota, after a few days, got used to the noise, it was harder for her to get away, since the young people did not hesitate to form a box or a triangle to get into it and from the moment they made her incite her to move around the square, she was neither the first nor the second that the heifer got into it and all the kids came out by legs.

Not only the youth went every afternoon, many elderly neighbors with great fans continued to run through their veins, stationed behind the fence, day after day in the same place, the grandmothers who with stool in hand went to the bullring, handkerchief in hand, they spurred him on, cheering as he passed by the side of the heifer to draw his attention, La Chota approached in more than one, stuck his head into the fence and grandmother suddenly fell to the ground, is that the feeling of bullfighting in Villafáfila is very big.

La Chota, meant for many the first contact with their bullfighting feeling, gradually dominating with a small beef, also learning from seeing the elders as they did, like the one that their feeling was not so deep and at the first envestida not return to step on land.

On the last day, on the eve of San Roque, the heifer was taken somewhere to lock it up, some vacant lot like it was on Calle el Sacramento, which is now the house in Madriles, he went to La Parada for many years and he put it on a rope and ran it through the street, one year he was left in the same bullpen. And after almost twenty days of heifer he entered fully with the running of the bulls, cage and uncage bullfighting of the San Roque festivities.

Not every year the Chota ended up there locked up without fighting, in more than one that was locked up at the stop it was taken out by the youth in the early mornings of San Roque and bullfighted, or being in the bullpen, taken out at dawn in the square, even in 1993, one of the nights the dance was taken at six in the morning, which canceled the dance and everyone went to La Chota. Some heifer did become famous and they ended up naming it "He Killed Me" one of them.

Some years after being locked up, it took time for La Chota to be taken away or to be sacrificed, some months passed, which led to her stealthily being bullfighted, although it can be said that it was an open secret, in short, the town did not gave it more importance.

Between the year 1992 or 1993, a place had not been made at the time and La Chota was free for days in the San Marcos area, which meant that anyone who wanted to fight her at any time had the pleasure of whenever they felt like it, the day It was a coming and going of youth to San Marcos, including the scare that the people who crossed there to the pool, found it loose and came out with a shotgun, the chota took refuge in the patio against the school in the shade and where least the they bothered A couple of boys, D. Julián Martín Ruiz and D. José Luis Domínguez Martínez, had flattened the entire area of ​​San Marcos with the shovel of a tractor, which is always filled with tall thistles, and they had set up triangles with the fences distributing them through San Marcos, as a refuge for those who were going to fight it. Until days later seeing the danger that had been generated,

Even the Chotas de Santiago, in 1993 the City Council gave it to two clubs that that year had organized the different acts prior to the festivities, children's games, championships, etc. One peña gives her part to another, this one that remains, three of them are the ones who had been in charge of her since the day of Santiago, feeding her, cleaning her part in the bullpen, putting her to bed, etc. their intention was to keep it by taking it to one of the facilities owned by one of them, they receive a purchase offer and in the end they sell it to a son of the town who lives outside, it was loaded into a Nissan Vanette van, its new destination arrived in Cabezón de la Sal (Santander), there she was in a ship where she was bullfighted for a month, until she was sacrificed, turning out that La Chota was pregnant,

During the days that the Chota was, not only the days that she was bullfighted, but even those that later she was locked up until they took her away or were sacrificed, someone selflessly took care of feeding her and giving her water, many years since the D. Dionisio Alonso Alonso (Isio-Tábares), Román de la Figuera Ferrero, other young neighbors of the time, Julián Martín Ruiz, Antonio Gómez Fernández, José Luis Domínguez Martínez, etc., were in charge of it. who made the same selflessness.

1995 is the last year that the Chota de Santiago was brought, It is the last year that the Chota de Santiago is brought, the condescension of it, was the change in legislation, regulations were toughened that were even not very restrictive. Change that, if you wanted to go out as you did every afternoon from the day of Santiago July 25 until the eve of San Roque or even between parties, you had to have an ambulance, apart from all your permits, sure, which made it economically unfeasible to be able to bring the Chota from Santiago, and just one day it exceeded the value of the cost of the chota.

So after that 1979 there were 17 years of lively evenings at 8:00 p.m., the sun was already beginning to go down, which was the delight of so many children and not so children inside the ring, being their first contact with a beef, which as they grew better he dominated. It can be said that those who enjoyed it would start with an average age of 10 years to fight the chota, those born in 1969 today would be 53 years old and the last ones born in 1985 today would be 37 years old.

These years of chota, as it was said more popularly speaking, left fans, perhaps standing out among all, in a mythical and endearing way:

D. Doroteo Rodríguez, a great fan of bullfighting, an endearing person in the Villa, who, despite his age, could feel the desire to do his tientos capote in hand and on more than one occasion the heifer gave a couple of romps.

D. Román de la Figuera Ferrero, another of the fans, endearing among all and who continues to be, like all fans, he did not lack his romp, but he never gave up giving him a pass even as a picador on a donkey. His hobby, his majority collaborative work, has led him to be designated by all the members president of the Villataurina de Villafáfila Socio-Cultural Association since 2019.

Thanks to Mr. Leto Orduña Justo, for recovering two videos of La Chota in the 1980s. XX, between 1980-84.

One of the oldest videos that are preserved from Villafáfila (Zamora) from the mid-80s with the traditional chota that was released every afternoon. Video from the VHS tape recordings of Bar Favila.

Clarify that it has been recovered from a VHS tape rerecorded several times and quite deteriorated that prevents getting a stabilized and sharp image. Recorded by D. Leto Orduña Justo, with one of the first Telefunken portable cameras that carried the rather heavy video recorder as a handbag or briefcase. With the estimable help of D. José Manuel recording or commenting.

At the following address you can see a video from the 80s of the heifer:

Villafáfila years 80 (heifer in the bullring). This video is from August 8, 1982.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXoC0x6ijlc

Villafáfila years 80 (the chota in San Marcos).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQQ2fqZEOWM&t=23s

Author:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

Bibliography-Texts:

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez:

News stories about the running of the bulls in Villafáfila.

The Opinion of Zamora, 2000.

www.villafafila.net - http://villafafila.net/encierros/encierros.htm

Isidro Dominguez Calzada.

Personal information.

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

Personal information.

Photographs:

https://www.abc.es

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez:

Roman de la Figuera.

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

Videos:

Leto Orduña Fair

Thanks to Mr. Leto Orduña Justo, for recovering two videos of La Chota in the 1980s. 20th, between 1980-84

One of the oldest videos that are preserved from Villafáfila (Zamora) from the mid-80s with the traditional chota that was released every afternoon. Video from the VHS tape recordings of Bar Favila. Clarify that it has been recovered from a VHS tape rerecorded several times and quite deteriorated that prevents getting a stabilized and sharp image. Recorded by D. Leto Orduña Justo, with one of the first Telefunken portable cameras that carried the rather heavy video recorder as a handbag or briefcase. With the estimable help of D. José Manuel recording or commenting.

At the following address you can see a video from the 80s of the heifer:

Villafáfila years 80 (heifer in the bullring).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXoC0x6ijlc

Villafáfila years 80 (the chota in San Marcos).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQQ2fqZEOWM&t=23s

Transcription and montage:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

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All text and photography has been authorized for storage, treatment, work, transcription and assembly to José Luis Domínguez Martínez, its dissemination on villafafila.net, and any other means that is authorized.