TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS IN VILLAFÁFILA
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TRADITIONS AND FESTIVALS IN VILLAFÁFILA |
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What happens day by day, which is repeated year after year, tells us about the traditions and customs of Villafáfila. Some are still maintained without any variation, others have modified part of their form but preserving the tradition, some have disappeared, we will mention all of them. SAN ANTONIO ABAD - SAN ANTON On January 17, the day of San Antonio Abad, patron saint of animals, it was a great holiday in the town, a mass was held with the blessing of the animals, at the door of the church mounted on donkeys, sayings were then read with themes referring to what happened to the village People. Then dance. This tradition is lost. Children still send each other drawings of animals, especially pigs and donkeys.
THE COMPADRES AND COMADRES It is a very peculiar celebration and tradition of Villafáfila, especially one when he is little and goes to school, because that day he does not leave. the compadres and comadres are celebrated in the month of February, in Lent, on Thursday, the compadres are held two weeks before Ash Wednesday, they are performed by the boys and the comadres a week later by the girls. The typical sweet is the Ears. That day is awaited with great enthusiasm and a week before arrival the preparations begin, usually a great deal of time is spent in the place where it is held. Groups of boys or girls get together, it is a day of coexistence, although you did not have to go to school and get up early that day if you wanted, around ten o'clock you stayed in the place, each person brought their chair and utensils for eating, meals are raffled for each component one thing,. Breakfast is usually a good hot chocolate accompanied by churros or biscuits at break time to play soccer, the rest of the morning to visit other groups of compadres, the food was always accompanied by a good dessert, some custard or a flan, at that time the boys and girls who attended school in the surrounding towns let them go out to visit their compadres, in the afternoon they used to give sweets to the teachers at school, in the afternoon snack, then well passing it between games until dinner time, At most, one would stay until midnight when one would go home. Normally there was leftover food that was usually finished the next day by making a meal. On the day of the comadres a great desire of the boys was to steal the snack from the girls. when one is not in school, it is usually a dinner with friends.
CARNIVAL Carnivals are celebrated with dances, people dress up, the burial of the sardine is made, making its procession through the streets of the town, it is burned and a pickled sandwich is eaten. The piñata dance was celebrated on Fat Sunday, where the pineapple was broken, whose interior was full of candies, chocolates, sweets, for tasting. For many years the celebration of the carnivals has been lost, but for years now they have been recovered through the cultural association, where dancing is done, what has been lost is the celebration of Fat Sunday.
HOLY WEEK It is one of the most deeply rooted traditions, it begins with the Blessing of the Palms and procession in the afternoon, the auction of the Saints, who parade in the processions, takes place on Palm Sunday after the afternoon mass. The highest bidders would take the steps up for auction. The one with the highest auction is usually Jesús Nazareno, due to the offers made, throughout the year, in response to the requests made: healing of illness, improvement of the harvest, result of an event, etc. The Urn is the one with the lowest auction.
In addition to the liturgical and processional celebrations, a preacher delivered the sermons, referring to the different chapters of the Passion. Their number was eight, the cost of which was paid by the City Council. The annual Paschal Compliance Week also took place, so that the speaker's confessional was attended by 90% of the citizens. the pronunciation of sermons has been lost as and the number of the Paschal Fulfillment is much smaller. Las Tinieblas was the peak moment of the children's celebration, with their carracas and carracons. The processional parades begin on Holy Wednesday, with the only existing Brotherhood, that of Cristo de la Misericordia founded in 1993, with dark green velvet suits, white cape, gloves and sash, on its hood they carry a white cross , parading in procession at night, in the procession of Silence, the brothers enter the church in two rows standing on each side of Christ, carrying a rattle and shears making them sound, a poetry written by D. Jacinto Fuertes is read for this Brotherhood, the Forgive your people is sung, and the Oath of Silence is taken to the brothers, in the town hall square the Miserere is sung by the people of the town, at the end in the church the Jesus Christ is sung.Throughout the procession, to remember that you have to go in silence, the rattle and the shearing are successively played.
During all the processions except the one on Wednesday and Saturday night, a trumpet is accompanied, it is played throughout the journey, with a harsh sound, making those days peculiar, it is usually carried by the youngest of the town. On Thursday afternoon the Ecce Homo procession takes place The night from Thursday to Friday was one of great festivity, where they dedicated themselves to drinking aguardiente, lemonade and chocolate with churros, people gathered in groups with their local, something that has completely disappeared. On Friday, the most awaited moment of Holy Week takes place, in the morning the Procession of the Encounter, parading Saint John, Mary and Jesus Nazareno, the latter being the saint who is most devoted to Villafáfila, where the greatest point is the moment of the encounter. of the images making first San Juan bow to Mary and Jesus these returning her, during the procession you can always see people going barefoot as penance for some promise to Jesus Nazareno. Such is the devotion for him, that our ancestors have been telling us the following event, in the early years of the 20th century the parish priest wanted the sale of the image, and informing the neighbors of it, a great tumult was formed, before the church of San Martín, with danger of the integrity of the one who had to be guarded by the Civil Guard. One thing that has been lost in this procession was the accompaniment of the preacher who said "run Juan to see María" (which the people continued saying "she is waiting for you at Uncle Chafarría's door" ) at whose command the step of Saint John (who is not the Evangelist but the Baptist, immemorial misunderstanding), people were aware of the inclinations to see the state of those after hanging around at dawn. In the morning they continue at home having chocolate with churros for breakfast, at noon it is typical to eat octopus.
In the afternoon, the celebration of the Holy Offices, the Nacre Cross is adored, according to tradition, it had been sent from Jerusalem. Each leap year has a representation of the Descent, which had not been represented for more than half a century, it was recovered in the year 2000 by the Brotherhood of Christ the Mercy, who are the ones that represent it. It consists of the real staging of the descent, by means of the images of the crucifixion, the Christ of the urn is placed, which is articulated, nailed to the cross, on the other side Mary, is read at the same time doing what is said, lowering it from the cross going to Mary, who with her head moving recognizes her son Jesus, who is then placed in the Urn. After the trades, the procession of the Holy Burial, the Sorrows, the Urn and the Painful parade. On Saturday night the procession of Soledad, parades only the Virgen de la Soledad, accompanied only by women, in line and with lanterns. HARVEST OF CHAMOMILE In mid-spring, chamomile is collected, which is famous and of very good quality. It was mainly collected by hand. This work was done by women and children, drying it on blankets at the door of the collectors exposed to the sun. he made a classic picture of local life, he cleaned himself, and he packed, it was an income for the most modest classes. Until a few years ago, some people continued to collect it for sale, at the Zamora fair, people collected a little for their homes and some relatives.
THE FIFTH The fifths are celebrated on the eve of May 1st, this consists of when young people come of age you have their party, they celebrate it, with a Castilian mass, where they are dressed in the typical costume, then going around the bars, they do a dinner, they dance for the whole town, they invite everyone to drink for free, they put on the mayo, a doll that fills its interior with straw, placing it on a beam as high as possible. Before, this festival was held in December in La Purisima lasted a few days, there was a ribbon race with horses that the fifths were taking out of a box, then May was moved, over the years a large part of the tradition was lost, running the tapes the dance, becoming only a dinner and refreshment, but since the fifth of 1994 it has been recovering year after year.
WORKERS' CHARITY SOCIETY Every May, the Workers' Day party, the party of the Sociedad Benéfico Obrera is celebrated, this society was formed in 1913, "La Benéfica" as it is popularly known, it was a workers' mutual aid union, in order to provide economic assistance to mainly agricultural workers and shepherds in times of difficulty and to subsidize the burial expenses of full members. and also attend the funerals of honorary members, generally farmers and neighbors with a better economic situation. As an emblem it has a flag with the national heats, with an inscription that will say: SOCIEDAD BENÉFICO-OBRERA DE VILLAFÁFILA. In recent decades, this company no longer provides its work, but the company continues to be maintained, that each one of May all its partners who are now all of the same condition,
SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR On May 15 and 16 San Isidro and San Isidrín, the farmers' festival is celebrated. The Image of San Isidro parades through the streets of the town with his car, approaching the fields to bless them. These days you can taste the typical sweets, (leaf buns, donuts, etc.), in addition to milk with rice and custard, sheep and cow farmers distributed milk among their neighbors, to make sweets. at night dance.
THE FAIR On June 18 and 19, the Fair took place. They were days of buying the agricultural objects necessary for the work of the summer: threshers, tornaderas, sales, slaughterhouses, etc., clothing and footwear for annual use in the field were also purchased. Banks, doors, kitchen utensils, etc. were also bought. The City Council in full with the painting of Santa Isabel, its patron saint, in fulfillment of its vote of thanks from the town for having rid it of the plague, went to the church of Santa María where a solemn religious function was celebrated. The fair has completely disappeared decades ago, all the aforementioned utensils have been replaced by mechanical machinery, the City Council does not celebrate its patron saint's day either.
SUMMER It is the time of agricultural harvesting that has undergone the most change, before they had the harvest of said cereals with a sickle, but since the beginning of the 20th century the machine was introduced. With the sheaves that formed these the brunettes were made, this work was frequently carried out by young women, who covered their faces and hands, so that the sun did not burn them, it was an aspect of the Moroccan landscape, the main problem for those was that at the next parties, young people would find them fresh and rosy. The hauling continued, preferably carried out at night, the equipment and the mules that were to receive the harvests were placed in the car, if the year was bad it did not go too far, but if it was good, the car would even return with two laps. The threshing and trellising, in the threshing floor, gave rise to the formation of heaps and piles, which were increasing in size every day. The cleaning was carried out by wind, later going on to be carried out by machine. Cleaning and acerendar were the two operations that had to be carried out so that the grain was clean. This is how the mill was obtained. The filling of the sacks, through the emina and then the transport of the grain to the panera, constituted the silage. The shears that at that time were put on the mules, which carried the cart, gave it a sound and spectacle. The snack of these cleaning days was very classic, it consisted of a salad of cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes and onions, to which once these were consumed, wine was added by some. Next, the confinement of the straw, so necessary for livestock, took place, for this, on the cart, new armor and meshes were placed, different from the previous one in order to increase its capacity, the straw thus transported, was carried at the foot of the haystack where it was sold, through sales by the bocarón. The yield of cargo wheat per quarter made the year good or bad, depending on whether it exceeded or did not arrive, if the year was good the summer reached September, but if it was bad it ended in the holidays or shortly after. All this is no longer done today, it has undergone a great change in the way it is done, due to the introduction of mechanical machinery, as the years go by these machines perform more tasks in less time, reducing the harvest to two weeks. . The harvesting and cleaning of the grain is carried out by the harvester, which also leaves behind the tangle of straw, the grain is transported by trailers with greater capacity every day, taking them directly to the bread baskets or to the threshing floor if it needs to be dried. The collection of straw has been completely mechanized, first the tangles were converted with the baler into small packages, which were then hooked to the trailer, by hand, later in loadalpacas and put in the haystack or making meda, this work needed several people , a decade ago with the introduction of large-volume balers that make packages of about 250kg that are collected with the tractor, with the shovel spikes, put in the middle, haystacks are no longer used. FRESH During the summer and at night with the good temperature you can see the neighbors sitting at the door in all the streets, talking, always one of the busiest in Plaza San Miguel (el Corrillo) this fact is said to be cool . THE MELONAR In the town there is a great custom of planting melons, which bear fruit in summer, planting watermelons, melons and sunflowers, as well as pumpkins and cucumbers. Who in his youth did not go to "catch", some watermelon, melon and above all what he called the most were the sunflowers, to go eat them together with friends.
SANTIAGO APOSTLE One of the traditions linked to the bulls was the custom of asking for them on Santiago's day at the door of the mayor. The day before at night, the craftsmen and servants who were in full harvesting task came to sleep at home and at night they stayed to sleep in the threshing floors. On the 25th, people went out to the streets with cowbells to ask for the bulls through the streets, intoning couplets and songs composed for that purpose, with the rhythm of jota In 1950, 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. This tradition has been lost, although in recent years attempts have been made to recover it with little success. In the years that day a small heifer was brought, released in the afternoon for the enjoyment of the people, until the eve of the holidays, some years the young people of the town took it out in the afternoon or on some night of the parties for the street. I am no longer done due to the change in the law making it impossible to take it out every day because of its expensive economic price OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION AND SAN ROQUE It is the main festival of the town that takes place on the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th, the festival has great bullfighting roots, the first bullfighting reviews that are had are from 1506, at the time of the Catholic Monarchs, with the future Over time, the celebration of activities and days has undergone changes, in recent decades, the running of the bulls in the countryside usually takes place a week before the start of the festivities on Sunday, releasing two bulls, people going on horses, cars, and tractors.
On the night of the 14th, the parade of supporters clubs was held, (which has now been held the day before, with the supporters clubs joining together in a commission, paying for the act themselves, after a few years of suspension). At 00:00, already becoming the 15th, the uncaging takes place in San Marcos, a square is set up with iron fences that were previously made of wood and around it is closed with trailers to prevent the escape of the cattle and a place of vision for the people, where they are bullfighted in the traditional style, making cuts facing the bull, with the suspense of the possible catching, then a dance that is celebrated in the main square until the wee hours of the morning. On the 15th It is the day of Our Lady of the Assumption, in the afternoon in the square the cattle are released again, and at night there are fireworks, followed by the festival. The 16th is the day of San Roque, when there is a mass in his honor and a procession through the streets of the town carrying his image, in the afternoon there is a baseball championship, and at night there is a festival.
On the 17th, it is the day of San Roquito, at the beginning of the 20th century, without specifying the year, there was an occasion in which the consistory did not hire the steers. The day of San Roque arrived in the morning and people crowded with excited spirits at the door of Don José Santiago, Don Pepe el Cervato , who had to go out the back, jumping over the walls, to hire the steers that They ran and fought on August 17, thus establishing the festival of San Roquito. In the afternoon, a baseball championship and a festival at night. This usually happens every year almost without any variation, but it is not the only thing, every year other activities are carried out on those days, clay pigeon shooting, painting exhibitions, theater, etc. The days before the month of August until the arrival of the festivities, cultural and sports activities are organized, swimming championships, five-a-side football, cycling, racquetball, children's games, etc. In the last 25 there has been a great boom in the clubs, they are groups of boys and girls, who spend the days of the party together, in places, there are them of all ages, since its inception its use has increased, it becomes among all a fee for the purchase of drinks, already in many meals, for dinners or lunches, and even real estate, the first years they had planks as benches, some bags with straw, for the sleeping area, or...! , now there are chairs, tables, even bus seats, practically all of them now have a fridge, or some kind of cold room, each one has their own clothing to differentiate themselves from the rest, they come in all colors, with their drawing, 90% are stuck in some rock.
THE HARVEST At the end of September the harvest began, the grapes were collected and later transformed into wine in the cellars. Some of these were carefully chosen to be hung, in clusters, from the beams of bread baskets and pantries, for consumption at Christmas. It was done between songs that made reference to local and current events, preferably to the departure and return of the day. The Lagarada was the culminating moment of the harvest: a beautiful bunch of grapes was rubbed on the face, sometimes also on the insides, of the chosen one, poor that young man who fell into the hands of a gang of grape harvesters! His secrets were public. Today the harvest has totally disappeared, like all the hawthorns that existed in the town, after the arrival of the concentration in the early 1970s, after loss, the use of the cellars too, passing to a great abandonment, today the use that is given is for the realization of snacks between friends.
PLANTING The sowing of cereals, after the harvest from Pilar, began the new agricultural year, as we have commented on the harvest, it has undergone a great change in the use of instruments, from sowing by hand, to gradually introducing machinery , which is currently complete with larger machines every day, reducing time, in the town there is a sorter for wheat and barley seeds, which at the same time is limed for its protection, against animals so that don't eat them. HUNTING, GREYHOUND AND SHOTGUN There are great fans, where the hunting of the hare is combined with the greyhound, a fight in the race and the shotgun that is also in search of the precious partridges, "waiting" when the Geese (legs) leave and arrive at the lagoons.
THE KILL Between the beginning of December and the end of January, the family pig is slaughtered, which gathered the family and closest neighbors around it, the slaughter is done in four days: 1st day: He was thrown on the slaughter bench for his sacrifice where there were enough people to grab him, always the smallest of the house was given the tail to hold, where the butcher introducing the knife for his death and blood loss, the blood was collected to make black pudding, then it was charred in straw, then its skin was cleaned, it was opened in a carcass to remove the interior parts, heart, livers to eat the chanfaina (liver and blood), tongue, the intestines were cleaned for later be used to make the chorizos, the butters, it was left in a place protected from the rain but open so that it cooled down with the night's relent. The legs are caught ears, the head is separated from the body. 2nd day: already well cooled, it is quartered, separating its parts, loins, ribs, backbone, hams, bacon, with the fats the coscarones are formed, later with these the typical coscarón cakes are made, the chumarros are made, which are the first fillets of the pork, the meat is minced, the base chichas of the chorizos come out and salchichón is put in the slaughter baths, separating the meat that is going to be used for chorizo (meat to which spicy is added) or salchichón, Depending on the tastes of each house, the chorizo is added more or less spicy.
3 day: the meat is left to rest in the baths. 4th day: this is when the chorizos and salchichón are made, these can be fat or thin depending on the casing and are hung in bread baskets and attics of the houses to dry, especially due to the frost at night, the first chichas are eaten (the minced meat with Spicy) are heated in a frying pan, sometimes the blood sausages are made from the tripe that is smoked in the kitchen on straw. Once the slaughter was carried out, the "sent" was carried out, so that family and friends could enjoy the slaughtered pig. This tradition has changed in some aspects, the slaughter bench is no longer used for the sacrifice, now it is hung from the tractor blades, nothing more than a couple of people is needed. The burning is done with a torch. Mincing meat and making sausages and sausages has gone from doing it by hand to incorporating an electric motor into the machine, taking away a lot of work. It no longer has as much family character due to the reduction of work, a large part of the shipment has been lost. The casings are hardly used from the pig itself. The consumption of "oreado" sausage soaked in wine and roasted has been lost, with the taste of new wine from the cellars, an old and pleasant custom.
CHRISTMAS Christmas is very celebrated, those days when the family gets back together, after being separated for much of the year. Before dinner on Christmas Eve, when one is a child, one goes out to ask for the bonus at home, with the group of friends going from house to house singing Christmas carols waiting to see what they would give as a tip, that there was everything, going to those who gave the most first, then to the Christmas Eve dinner, with the best dishes for the occasion, a good chat, toasting, then some of the people go to a bar later to spend time with people until the wee hours. On the night of the 27th, the eve of the Holy Innocents, you can always see the youngest preparing all kinds of foolish things and pranks, who has not committed any? On the 31st, he goes to eat the grapes at the town hall, where he gives the twelve grapes and champagne, for many years with connection to the door the sun was touching us D. Ángel the ex-bailiff chime by chime, receiving the new year, congratulating each other. On January 5 there is a parade of kings, which the children await with great enthusiasm, going around their floats, throwing candies, making their offering to the baby Jesus, then they distribute their gifts to the children of the town who wait for them impatiently. Two decades ago they came on horses, many not so children remember him going from house to house.
La Moma is a peculiar way to scare someone, a gang of friends get together at night, dressing in sheets and blankets all covered, going to wait for the person who appears from the streets or alleys as they go home, In general, everyone is scared. No less waiting for him some night he appears.
Author, text, photos: Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.
Transcription and montage: Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.
All text, photographs, transcription and montage, the rights belong to their authors, any type of use is prohibited without authorization. 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. |
