HALLOWEEN IN THE WORLD, BETWEEN THE RELIGIOUS AND THE PAGAN

As you all probably will know, Halloween celebration (the word comes from the contraction of "All Hallow's Even", that is, "Vigil of All Saints") was born in Ireland around the year 100 AC. The ancient Celts believed that on the 31st of October, the boundary between the living and the dead disappeared and the dead could be dangerous for the living. And to prevent from them they thought of litting large bonfires to scare away evil spirits and also they thought that if they could look like them wearing scary costumes and masks they would be safe.

When Irish immigrants went to America they took with them this tradition and from there it spread to other countries, like mine, Spain.

In my country what it is really celebrated it is the Day of All Saints, which is the 1st of November, on that date people visit the cemeteries carrying flowers (chrysanthemum flower is the most common) for their deceased loved ones and also they have typical foods to be eaten on this day: the so called “huesos de santo” (bones of saints) and the “buñuelos” (fritters) and outside the cities, people also take the opportunity to go out to the countryside to celebrate the "chestnut", where they spend a nice day with family eating chestnuts and walnuts. It is also customary in Spain to celebrate this day with performances of the play "Don Juan Tenorio" written by Jose Zorrilla.

But it has to be said that in Spain, as well as elsewhere, this celebration is becoming a big business, with many parties and events celebrated in many places on the night of October 31, with the sale of candy and rental of costumes, although at this point the Americans certainly takes the cake, as the fourth of all candy sold in a year, it is bought at this time of Halloween.

And how is this day celebrated in other countries of the world? Let's see...........

- In Ireland, where this tradition was born, bonfires are lit in rural areas and children in fancy dresses, trick-out and games are organized for them.

- In Canada and the U.S.A. is held very similar, with the traditional sweet request from door to door by children and costume parties (tradition that we have inherited Spaniards very enthusiastically in recent times).

- In Scotland, children compete for sweets, singing or telling jokes or stories. And women have a tradition there, in which you peel an apple in front of a mirror lit by a chandelier and according to a legend, if they can peel it in only one strip, the mirror will show the image of her future husband.

- In Austria, some people leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on a table before going to sleep, because in the past they considered that these objects were welcoming the souls of the dead returning to earth on that night.

- In Belgium, it is customary to light candles in memory of their dead relatives.

- In India there is the rite of Mahalaya, which consists of prayers to invoke the spirits of their ancestors.

- Mexico is very famous in its celebration of Dia de los Muertos, which is, in fact, a Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. And for three days many parades take place in the main streets and people visit the cemeteries taking flowers and food to their dead and make many altars, where they put food and drink, a photo of the deceased, a cross of ashes in case they are in purgatory and four skulls (three small and one big one, as representing God).

- In Peru, it is also customary to prepare altars as carefully as the Mexicans, making offerings throughout the night so that the deceased does not miss anything.

- In Guatemala they have a curious rite: they fly large kites during the days before November 2, to calm the dead and so they can return to their home the next day.

- In China it is performed Chin Ming Festival, which are customary to place willow branches on their doors to ward off evil spirits as they believe that if they do not, in their next life they will come converted into yellow dogs.

- In Hong Kong people make a party called "Yue Lan" which means "Festival of the Hungry Ghosts." They put pictures of fruits and money to reach their minds and stay, so peaceful.

- In Japan they celebrate their festival of the dead, known as Obon, in which they put lanterns on doorsteps, so that the dead are not lost.

In my country every year there are costumes that are the most popular and requested by people, but this year I have not heard yet what it is going to be the most popular and requested. But with or without disguise to wear, and meanwhile I am thinking over about mine…………...... I wish you all,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND ALL SAINTS DAY!

TORO DE LA VEGA FIESTA? NOT AT ALL!

As I told you in the recent post titled "La Tomatina de Buñol", many annual Fiestas Mayores take place in these days in Spain. One of them is “el Toro de la Vega” celebration, which is held in Tordesillas (Valladolid) in the second week of September, in honor of the patron Saint of the town, the Virgin of the Cliff. This spectacle, “The lancing of the bull”, has been going for centuries.

Each year a bull is driven down the street and then the bull “faces his fate”, crossing a bridge, where on the other side several men on horseback and others on foot with lances, are waiting for him to kill him. And the youth who does it will be allowed to cut off his testicles and parade them on the end of his lance. Afterwards the Town Council presents the winner with a gold badge and a lance made of forged iron.

And I (and many Spaniards) wonder: Where is the fun of this? This year there were 300 people protesting against this and trying to prevent it, though unluckily they weren’t successful.

There is a website called www.torodevega.com in which you can read more about it and enclosed below there is a link which contains a letter in Spanish and in English to be signed and sent to any of the emails written in it, in order to stop this horrible and bloody tradition in Tordesillas.

Model protest letter

THE 50th INTERNATIONAL VALENCIAN PAELLA CONTEST AND HOW TO MAKE IT

Sueca is a town in the province of Valencia, on the east coast and it is the rice ambassador par excellence. The rice is the main cultivation on the Ribeira Baixa (where Sueca town is).

During 50 years a prestigious contest has been held there: The International Valencian Paella Contest. Today the 50th celebration has taken place in Sueca and 50 restaurants from Spain and from other countries, like Japan have participated.

The winner paella has been made by a restaurant from Sueca village (of course! How wouldn’t be like that?)

 The Ribeira Baixa in Sueca

Perhaps you may know that my father was a cook in the oldest restaurant in the world in Madrid (Botín Restaurant) but since I have not got him around to ask him for the recipe at this time (I'll do another day, I promise) and I'm not an expert at all on making paella (I admit it, I'm ashamed of it and I'm sorry for it!), I am going to make you an advance enclosing two videos, one in Spanish and the other in English so that you can see how to make a typical paella, although you have to take into account that there are many ways to make a paella really, depending of the ingredients.

Perhaps you can become experts paella makers and next year you can participate in the 51st International Valencian Contest in Sueca! Good luck with the recipe and enjoy it!

in English

in Spanish

(Please, pause the music on the left first)

LA TOMATINA DE BUÑOL, A TRADITIONAL SUMMER FESTIVITY

In many Spanish towns, traditional festivities in honor of the Virgin or of a saint are held during the summer. And there are celebrations where the entertainment includes runnings of bulls or using bulls or other animals, as part of the fun and keep your traditions, something that I don't support at all, what is the point in keeping on doing these things? even for the animals and for the people (five people have been killed by bulls, so far, during this year in the running of bulls), though luckily these activities increasingly are been chased by most Spanish people.

However and on the opposite, there are many villages where people don’t need to threat animals just to have fun, one of those villages is Buñol. This town is in Valencia (in the Spanish east coast) and at the end of August they celebrate their “fiestas patronales” with a feast called “Tomatina” (that is, small female tomato).

This holiday was declared in 2002 as International Tourist Interest and this year it was its 65th edition.

For an hour there is a great battle between two sides, among which are shot 100,000 kilos of ripe tomatoes. In this struggle 45,000 people have taken part this year. And people throw tomatoes everywhere, even enemies or friends!

And when the battle is over, a cleaning device consisting of 60 people is responsible for cleaning all traces of the fight in an hour and a half, after which there is no trace either in the streets or in the participants.

Every year people from many countries come to Buñol to participate in this tomato-throwing battle, but this year some other visitors from the world of cinema have come: people from Bollywood studios (from India) to shoot scenes for the blockbuster "Only live once " and there has been also a delegation from Korea, which has been collecting information for his next " Boryeong Mud Festival! " in which people play with mud. Surely they will have fun too!

In case you want to read more about it, you can press in this link:

Fiesta de la Tomatina de Buñol

THE BELLE EPOQUE IN SANTANDER WITH LOS BAÑOS DE OLAS

Santander is a gorgeous city in the north of Spain by the Cantabrian sea. And like every year "The Baths of Waves" celebrates there, a practice that began when the Spanish court summered there since 1847.

Each year in mid July, Santander sighs and looks back nostalgically to the past. Backtracks in time to recover that aristocratic and romantic that distinguished the middle of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as a tourist destination of the Spanish high society. The dusting Sardinero beach memories and re-filled with elegance and distinction, chaste bathing suits to the ankles, striped jerseys, caps are subject to flabby neck and delicate shades. "Los baños de olas", a celebration in which many people in Santander dress as their ancestors to relive the golden years. Around the Sardinero beach games, races, contests, dances, markets, exhibitions and festivals take place during those days.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Santander joins the Biarritz, Cannes and Nice fashion, where the wealthy people went to sea bathing for therapeutic purposes, and becomes the hub of elite tourism in northern Spain.

The influx of distinguished visitors increased in the early twentieth century, when king Alfonso XIII and queen Victoria Eugenia set their summer residence in the palace of La Magdalena. At that moment the beach summer holidays were born in Spain.

To meet such an exclusive clientele, bathhouses are mounted for changing clothes, bathing suits arise from two pieces, baggy pants and large shirts, little translucent tissue, such as wool, not to shock any people and dark colors, like blue or brown. It was said at that time that the bath water waves in the Cantabrian cured many ailments, especially skin conditions.

I have not had the chance to enjoy this festival in Santander yet, but it must be nice and sweet to see the city decked out and decorated as if it were a painting of the Belle Epoque.

LOS SANFERMINES BULL-RUNNING FESTIVAL

Yesterday it was the last bull-running (encierro) celebrated in Pamplona, after eight days of fiesta during the famous Sanfermines bull-running festival, very well known around the world.

Photo taken in Pamplona when I was there last October

The festival of San Fermin (or Sanfermines) is a deeply rooted celebration held annually in Pamplona annually from 12:00, 6 July when the opening of the fiesta is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic chupinazo to midnight 14 July with the singing of the “Pobre de mi” song. Its events were central to the plot of “The sun also rises”, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking people. It is probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. Every year nearly 1,000,000 people come to watch this festival.

This photo is on a wall in Cafe Iruña

where Hemingway used to go

when he was in Pamplona

During eight days the streets in Pamplona get crowded with people eager to have fun and drink. The bull-run starts at 8:00 a.m. when hundreds of people race ahead of six fighting bulls and six bell-tinkling steers. In the evening the bulls will be killed in the bull ring and their meat gets served up in Pamplona’s restaurants. Dozens of people are injured each year in the morning runs. Out of curiosity I’ll you that in all its history, there have been 15 dead people (the last one happened last year). Though people under 18 years and people who is under alcohol effects running is forbidden.

SAN ISIDRO CELEBRATION IN MADRID

Chulapas girls

Each Spanish city has its own saint patron, to honour which there holidays celebrated, ceremonial masses and festivals are organized. Spanish people still follow this tradition and saint patron days are widely celebrated not only in large cities but also in small villages. And last Saturday it was Madrid’s turn for its saint patron celebration: Saint Isidro’s Day.

According to the legend, Saint Isidro was born in 1087 in a Christian family that lived in the small Madgerit city, which is now Madrid. When the boy grew old, he started doing peasant work for his landowner Juan de Vargas. At the same time, he revealed an unusual ability to find sources of drinking water, which made him popular all around the neighbourhood and which combined with great devotion and kindness. St. Isidro lived a long life till 90. Little by little he became one of the most esteemed Madrid saints and in XVI century there was a chapel built on the place where St. Isidro revealed the spring. In 1610 he was officially canonized and was named the patron of Madrid.

This celebration starts Sunday before May 15th and lasts a whole week and you can participate in a lot of celebrations organized in many places in the city and you feel as part of one culture, following our (I was born in Madrid) ancestor’s traditions.

Many madrileños wear the traditional dresses “chulapa dress” (for the girls) and “chulapo suit” (for the boys). The word “chulapo” comes from the word “chulo” that in Spanish language is a derogatory term meaning someone is full of oneself….. and so, madrileños are often described as “chulos” by people from other parts of Spain. You can see these costumes in the photos I am linking below. And although San Isidro and his wife, Santa Maria de la Cabeza were poor people famous for their generosity giving food to the poor, now this celebration is an excuse for big celebrations.

Saint Isidro's chapel

queuing for collecting the miraculous water

the typical ring shaped pastries usually were called "silly" rings (no sugar on it), "clever" rings (covered with sugar) and Santa Clara rings (with a white layer) though now there are plenty more in

every colour you can think of!

 

of course, there are not Spanish celebrations without a paella dish...

....... that you can eat on the prairie with family and friends

the "chotis" dancing

playing a special madrileño organ

chulapas with tourists

a little photographer chulapa

this is a goyesca (from Goya, the Spanish painter) dress girl

a little chulapo a bit tired of the fiesta

By the way, my nieces Eva and Cris

and my nephew Mario some years ago

(they are now teenagers!) at this same celebration

and Rubén, my other nephew,

inviting you to eat delicious

rosquillas from Saint Isidro

 ¡buen provecho!

PTA:  All the photos were taken by myself.

ENJOY THE COURTYARDS EMBELLISHMENT CONTEST IN CORDOBA

When the month of May comes, Córdoba, one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, fills with colour and spring because a very special contest takes place there. It is a courtyard embellishment contest and all the streets and squares in the centre of the city get very colourful and lively.

It is celebrated in the first fortnight of May, since 1964. The courtyards are usually shared with several neighbours and are located in the oldest districts in Cordoba.

This is a unique tradition in the world and unfortunately very difficult to preserve. It is based on the characteristics of the Cordoba lifestyle, in homes with landscaped patios and balconies, where the main decoration are the flowers.

Many private houses open their doors to visitors who, armed with a list provided on the tourist offices, hotels and courts themselves, find out which are open and the place where they are located. Then they will choose which courtyard is the most beautiful.

And in the late afternoon the smell of jasmine and orange blossoms of the orange, the flamenco music and conversation with friends will be a unique experience to live and remember.

I have just linked a spring-like YouTube video of cordobeses courtyards for the weekend, filled with colours and flowers, here you are and I hope you enjoy it!

LA FIESTA DE LAS CRUCES IN SPAIN

Photos taken in "El Santo Cristo del Zapato" celebration- Pinos del Valle (Granada)

La Fiesta de las Cruces (Crosses Celebration), also called Cruz de Mayo in Spain is celebrated on 3rd of May. This is a Christian tradition in which all kind of crosses are installed in the streets of many towns and little villages, the crosses mainly are made of flowers surrounded by many decorative objects which are placed with more or less success, especially floral elements, pots and plants, but in fact anything can help (even scarves, quilts, paintings, candlesticks....). Its origin is popular, as the neighbours of a street or square are who provide the materials. Then in the parties people dance around, sing allusive songs and play games.

Also it has become imperative in the habit of installing a bar and take the opportunity to do some business, usually to cover the cost of Easter brotherhoods, clubs or groups of students.

The County Hall of most places where it is celebrated every year arranges Crosses Contest and visit the award-winning cross.

Related to the religious origin, they seem to be caused by the discovery by St. Helena of the cross where Christ died (on a May 3rd), but the fact is that the popular support of the party seems to come from certain celebrations of the Romans.

It is held in many locations in Spain and Latin America as well. In Spain some of the towns where this fiesta is highly celebrated and receive a huge number of visitors are:

- Córdoba is the capital of the crosses for excellence (that they celebrate along with the beautiful festivity of the courtyards embellishments).

- Motril (Granada) is considered the second city of the crosses. It is the closest city that is next to Cordoba in the race to get the top position of City of Las Cruces. Its celebrations are of National Tourism interests.

- Granada is the third in this ranking. Since I have had the opportunity to enjoy this celebration there during the last three years and here I am enclosing some of the photos I took.

a cross at the feet of  La Alhambra

in El Albaicin (Granada)

close to official buildings

or close to your own house.........

made with any little toy by children

or made with bread by a big supermarket chain........ anything is of good use!