Celebrations are an outstanding characteristic of folklore in the Castilian-leonese everyday life and they are celebrated mainly coinciding with the periods of seasonal change. Festivities are in general the human intuition of the rhythmical step of time, rhythm marked by our planet. All the celebrations, not only in Castile and Leon, have their origin in Christian traditions, although the remote origin would be in the Roman celebrations to praise different Gods at seasonal change times. An evident mixture between religious and profane exists.
We are going to make an annual trip to the most important celebrations in the different cities and towns of this Autonomous Community characterized by the conservation of its ancestral traditions.
JANUARY:
San Antón, January 17: San Antón is the saint of the animals and is represented with a pig at his side. In many of the towns and cities domestic animals are blessed. In La Alberca (Salamanca) a pig is raffled between the humblest families in the town, previously the pig has been fed by all the neighbours on the place.
FEBRUARY:
San Blas, February 3, protector of the throat. In Salamanca and other localities people buy one necklace of different colours, is placed it in the neck until Ash Wednesday and with this tradition the luck is protected throughout the year.
Santa Águeda, February 5, patron of the women. In most of the Castilian-leonese localities the women assume the control of the city, given by in mayor, during this day. The mayoress dress their better finery and appropriate of towns and cities for one day in a festive atmosphere. The most famous Águedas festivity is the one in Zamarramala (Segovia).
Also in February or March the Carnivals are celebrated in the entire region, being the most famous and interesting in the region the one of Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca). In this locality the protagonist is not the disguise tradition, but the bull, an essential element of this celebration: running of the bulls, bullfights, music, dances in disguise... It is the only carnival in the world where mask and bull are united. For that reason it is a unique, different celebration. During these celebrations, bullfights take place in the Plaza Mayor (main square), where a rectangular arena is constructed for the occasion that is disassembled when the celebrations finalize. But the bullfighting celebration does not begin indeed in the Plaza Mayor, but long before arriving there, the running of the bulls take place in the streets. They are named, after all, the "Castilian Sanfermines", less well-known that those from Pamplona but equally dangerous.
MARCH-APRIL:
Easter. Celebration, variable in date, that coincides with the spring seasonal cycle. This seasonal cycle has as it base in the drama and joy of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These feelings are expressed in the streets of all Castile and Leon by religious processions, characterized by solemnity and silence. They are famous those from Zamora, Valladolid, both declared of Tourist International Interest, and the one of Leon. Zamora has about 60,000 inhabitants, but in Easter it reaches 300,000, because these religious celebrations are famous outside the town. The Zamora processional parades not only have a contained emotional depth and a huge popular participation, but there are exhibited statures of great artistically value, and the same happen in Valladolid.
Monday of Waters (Salamanca). The origin of this celebration dates back to XVI century, when King Philip II dictates decrees according to which the public women who live in the "House of Mancebía" of Salamanca had to be transferred, during the Cuaresma, outside the city. In Ash Wednesday prostitutes left their habitual residence and were transferred to the other side of the Tormes River. Putas Father, was the one in charge to watch and take care of prostitutes, being the person in charge of them. This personage accompanied the students to gather prostitutes, a day in the following Monday to the one of Passover (Monday of Waters). We can all imagine the joy and fun of these young students who spend their money in food, drinks and dances to celebrate the arrival, in boats, shaking the branches that accompanied them, of prostitutes. Today, we are not going to look for those women canoeing the river, but we continued celebrating this event with salmantine hornazo. Nowadays Monday of Waters is celebration and in the evening almost all the salmantinos go to the River Tormes banks to eat famous hornazo accompanied generally with wine.
JUNE:
The passage of the fire in San Pedro Manrique (Soria) Celebration of San Juan, June 24(23 por la noche).
This small Soria municipality maintains alive the tradition of the Fire Passage, which is difficult to locate in history because the first writings are dated at the beginning of XX century. The villagers cross burned coals generated by a great bonfire on barefoot in honor to the promises made to the Virgin of the Rock. The rite is celebrated the night of San Juan, and takes place next to the Hermitage of the Virgin of the Rock. The bonfire is a square pyre made of oak wood that is set fire at ten o’clock PM, one hour later the coals scatter themselves forming a carpet over which the villagers will pass, because they are the unique ones who do not burn themselves according to tradition.
AUGUST:
Day of the Virgin, August 15. In this date all Spain is in celebration Castile and Leon too. Different celebrations in all geography in the region are taken place: The Pinochada in Vinuesa (Soria), the Offering and the Loa in La Alberca (Salamanca), the confinements in Cuellar (Segovia), the "wine fountain" in Toro (Zamora) and a long list extended in the entire region.
