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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Priest outlaws coffins at Spain’s strange ‘Living Dead’ festival

The new priest of a Galician village famed for holding a 'Living Dead' procession in which live people are paraded around in open coffins has banned this year's bizarre spectacle, claiming that it has more to do with witchcraft than religion.

Priest outlaws coffins at Spain's strange 'Living Dead' festival
A 'living dead' woman is carried in an open casquet by her relatives during the annual "Procession of the Shrouds", but not without first protecting herself from the sun by holding an umbrella and wearing sunglasses. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

The Os Mortos Vivos (Living Dead) fiesta held in the village of Santa Marta de Ribarteme in Galicia (northwest Spain) will not be quite as peculiar this year.

That’s because the village’s new priest has decided to ban the day’s star tradition – the Procession of the Shrouds – which sees living people carried around in open coffins through the packed streets.

Usually those who ‘play dead’ in the caskets are locals who have escaped death in real life and it’s their relatives who carry the coffins on their shoulders.

But according to el cura (the priest), the custom has lost its religious significance and morphed into something more sinister.

People who have escaped death in real life lie in caskets and are carried in procession by relatives as a gesture of gratitude. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

Speaking to La Sexta TV channel, Father Francisco Javier explained he was against the tradition because, whilst it was popular, it generates “a lot of superstition, a lot of witchcraft, a lot of nonsense”.

The vast majority of Ribarteme’s villagers don’t want to lose this strange ritual which takes place every year on July 29th on the feast day of the local parish’s most important saint, Santa Marta.

One man described the decision as “horrible… because I’ve been coming here [for the event] since I was a boy”.

“It’s only the priest who wants to ban it, it’s a disgrace because it’s a tradition that’s always been like this,” another woman commented.

The Mayor of Santa Marta de Ribarteme, Xosé Manuel Rodríguez, recognised the event as being of cultural interest, and was more optimistic about recovering the spooky tradition.

“We are sure that if it will return,” Rodríguez told La Sexta. “We are going to recover a tradition that all of us would like to see continue”.

A smiling woman is carried in a coffin by relatives during the annual “Procession of the Shrouds”. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

Unknown origins

The peculiar tradition of carrying living people around in open coffins has long taken place in the neighbouring Pontevedra villages of As Neves and Santa Marta de Ribarteme.

Some say it came about as a way for people to give thanks to Saint Martha for saving them or a loved one from death, an illness or an accident – or to implore her to do so in future. 

But no one is truly sure about the procession’s origins.

According to a book about the casket carrying published in As Neves, the tradition could date back to the Medieval Crusades. 

Nobles who left Galicia for the Middle East discovered in France the story of Saint Martha, whose brother Lazarus was raised from the dead when Jesus visited their home, according to the Bible’s account.

When they returned, they thanked the saint for having spared them from death by occupying their own coffins, according to this book.  

Expect to see plenty of emotion at the Procession of the Shrouds, even from the ‘living dead’. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

Another explanation is offered by Carlos Hernández, a sociologist who wrote a thesis about the procession.

In the past, people would buy their own coffin while they were still alive when they had the means or when a family member was ill, he said.   

If a seriously ill person survived, they would donate their coffin to the local parish for those who could not afford one.

The procession is similar to other rituals in Spain that depict the fight being good and evil, life and death, according to Hernández.

“Its about daring to stare death in the face, looking at Evil, so that life wins,” he argued.

Another village in Galicia also stages a procession with coffins, but in this case they are empty.

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

IN IMAGES: Is La Rioja’s Wine Battle the wildest party in Spain?

Every June 29th, Spaniards in the winemaking region of La Rioja spend the day dousing each other in wine during 'la Batalla del Vino': the Battle of Wine.

IN IMAGES: Is La Rioja's Wine Battle the wildest party in Spain?

For the last three centuries, revellers have gathered in the town of Haro, La Rioja (northeast Spain), every June 29th for La Batalla del Vino – literally, the Battle of Wine.

And it’s no surprise, as Haro is known as ‘the Capital of Rioja wine’. 

Dressed all in white with red neckerchiefs, thousands of participants set off in the morning for a 6 km hike. They then climb up a mountain and gather at the Hermitage of San Felices de Bilibio for a mass to celebrate the feast day of San Pedro (St. Peter).

They then head outside, armed with bottles and jugs of vino, for a wine fight that goes on until there isn’t a spot of white to be seen on their person, and everyone is drenched from head to toe.

A sea of wine-drenched revellers. (Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)

Tank trucks filled with wine distribute Rioja to revellers with water pistols, back-mounted spraying devices and buckets as they shoot, pour and spray vino in all directions.

Keep in mind that the cleaner you look, the more you will be a target – so just accept that you will turn burgundy sooner or later.

A participant pours red wine on a drum during the “Batalla del Vino”.(Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)

If you’re planning to take part, it’s advisable not to wear your newest set of white clothes and shoes, because they’ll likely never be the same again. And don’t worry, despite all the craziness, glass bottles or devices are not allowed.

It’s a good job wine is cheap in Spain, keeping in mind how much is wasted during Haro’s Wine Battle. (Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)

Approximately 9,000 locals and tourists attend the annual event, with a reported 130,000 litres of red wine spilt.

Haro’s Battle of Wine was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest in 2011.

Once every single drop of wine has been spilt and the battle is over, it’s time to tuck into chorizo and morcilla, and this time drink the wine. (Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)

The origin of this tradition dates back to a possible dispute with the nearby town of Miranda de Ebro over the ownership of a rural area in the municipality, Los Riscos de Bilibio, where the celebration is held.

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