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one of northern spains more unusual festivals
By Author: Louise Astorgano
E-mail: louise@spanishfootsteps.com
Submitted on 17 Jun 2008
The festival of San Pascual Bailón (Zarrón) in Almazan, Soria has been declared of Cutural Interest for the traditional costumes, dancing, music and use of force against the meddling village teenagers. Arriving in Almazan’s main square a few minutes before the start of the festival, I was a little unsettled to see a Red Cross ambulance and several medics on standby. Although I knew the Zarrón involved men dressed up in strange outfits who, carry and weld a cudgel, I didn’t for a minute think force was actually used. The main acts of the festival, celebrated on the 17th & 18th of May are several religious processions with the image of Saint Pascual. The processions start from the Church of San Pedro before arriving in the main square. The image of the Saint is followed by a group of dancers, young people of the village dressed in traditional Sorian costume. They are led by a drummer, who keeps time with large castanets and is responsible for carrying the sticks used by the dancers. Alongside the dancers are the ‘Zarrón’, responsible for protecting the dancers and procession from the young men who want to hinder the dancer’s progress around the square. Grown men dressed in leather chaps and jackets, wearing large brimmed hats adorned with vulture feathers and fox tails, the ‘Zarrón’ carry a ‘zombomba’, a stick used to whip, from which hangs a small bag that they use to pound those who provoke them. There are also several younger boys (about 5 or 6 in total) who whilst dressed as ‘Zarrón’ do not participate in the running battles, instead they walk along with the procession, it’s as if they are in training, preparing themselves for their future roles. Linked to the foundation in 1816 of the ‘Cofradía of San Pascual Bailón (Brotherhood of Saint Pascual Bailón), the fiesta is one of colour, music, traditional dancing and for some, ritual taunting and pain. As with most religious festivals in Spain, it is the responsibility of the brotherhood to organise the celebrations and festivities. The original mission of the ‘Zarrón’ was to scare away the young boys who in similar celebrations had upset the members of the church brotherhoods. The ‘Zarrón’ dressed in a style of the devil and took to carrying the ‘zombomba’, which actually encouraged some of the village boys to taunt and defy the ‘Zarrón as an act of bravery. This is what gave rise to the tradition that continues to this day. The small bag on the end of the cudgel is filled with pressed wool, which might not sound like an instrument that inflicts pain but judging by the sound of the blows that landed on target and the aforementioned presence of the Red Cross it most certainly is. As the procession makes it way around the square you can anticipate its proximately by the sudden appearance of several young men, who continually glance back whilst running, stopping when they realise they are not being chased, only to return from where they just came to instigate another round of taunting, hoping to goad the ‘Zarrón’ to chase. Only when the young men are cornered do the ‘Zarrón’ begin welding the ‘zombomba’, once a blow has been landed, sweets are thrown out by a steward, the crowd claps and cheers and this adolescent rite of passage begins once more. Originally the sweets were thrown towards the image of the Saint by the villagers on the ground and from the balconies that today still surround the picturesque main square of Almazan. Any sweets that fell off the platform that the Saint was being carried on were collected by the ‘Zarrón’ and were theirs to keep, the village boys would scramble around trying to take the sweets for themselves and would suffer bruises if the ‘zombomba’ landed on target. It is thought that the celebration of this fiesta may go back much further than 1816, but as the first documents of the brotherhood have been lost no one knows exactly when this celebration commenced. It may have originated from a medieval tradition, instigated by local shepherds, more or less grouped in some form of guild or group that in turn may have given rise to the creation of the Brotherhood of Saint Pascual Bailón, its aim being to honour the patron saint of the shepherds, around the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century. It is known though that in 1816 the brotherhood was reformed after it had been dissolved during the War of Independence and that until 1866 only shepherds, their wives and children were admitted. Today the brotherhood is open to anyone who wishes to join, therefore keeping this fantastic, if somewhat bizarre, festival in Soria alive.