It has been a long wait, one of the longest of those that fixes its regular cadence of celebrations and that obeys a specific circumstance of the calendar. It is only a Jacobean Year when the 25th of July, the feast of the Apostle Santiago and the great day of Galicia, coincides with a Sunday, something that happened for the last time in 2010 and will happen again in this 2021. This has been since the Middle Ages, although the lights and shadows are intermingled as we go back in time to find out the origin of some key aspects of the celebration.

The transfer of the remains of the Apostle Santiago to the Peninsula at the beginning of the first millennium by his disciples, his burial and hiding for centuries, his discovery at the beginning of the 9th century by a hermit who saw some strange lights on a mountain, and the communication of the discovery by Bishop Teodomiro are the main episodes of the story that explains the presence in Galicia of the tomb of this disciple of Christ and that lays the foundations of the Xacobean phenomenon. It was already in the first third of the 9th century when King Alfonso II The Chaste travelled from Oviedo to what is now Compostela to verify the veracity of this discovery, thus becoming the first pilgrim. That pioneering journey also outlined the route of what would become the first route of the Ways of Santiago: the Primitive Way.

Since then, millions of people have followed his example by heading for Santiago and drawing up a map of routes that runs through the whole of Europe. The Camino de Santiago thus became an element of union and identification for the citizens of the old continent, and the growing importance of the phenomenon placed Compostela alongside Rome and Jerusalem as one of the three great centres of pilgrimage in Christendom. But when did the celebration of the Jacobean holy year begin?

Traditionally, it has been attributed to a bull granted by Pope Calixtus II, “Omnipotentis Dispositione”, both the elevation of the city of Santiago de Compostela to the status of metropolitan headquarters to the detriment of Merida, and the establishment of the Jubilee Year when July 25th is sunday. No copies of that founding document have been preserved, but it is the disposition of a later pope that would support that theory. This is the “Regis Aeterni” bull issued by Alexander III, which ordains the jubilee established by Calixtus II in perpetuity and recognises the full indulgence of those who make the pilgrimage to Compostela in the Holy Year. The bull of Alexander III is dated 1179, although various specialists have cast doubt on its authenticity and consider it to be a document produced between the 14th and 15th centuries with the aim of making the phenomenon of pilgrimages to Compostela official.

Be that as it may, the decision to link the Holy Year of Compostela to the Sunday 25th July has survived to the present day, leading to a cadence that has taken us to this Xacobeo 2021 and which, according to tradition, would have begun in the year 1126. Since then and with a regularity of 6, 5, 6 and 11 years (except for some variation due to the leap year) the church of Compostela has enjoyed the privilege of granting forgiveness to those who make the pilgrimage to Santiago and win the Jubilee. There are three requirements for this: visiting the tomb of the Apostle and saying a prayer, receiving the sacrament of confession in the cathedral itself or no more than 15 days in advance, and receiving communion.

From the church itself they explain that the Jubilee is something independent of the Compostela. The latter is the accreditation that certifies having made a pilgrimage to Santiago for religious reasons and having fulfilled a series of criteria as to how to do so, such as covering at least 100 kilometres if making the Camino on foot or on horseback, and 200 by bicycle. The Jubilee, however, does not depend on how you get to Santiago, but only on meeting the three requirements mentioned above. Similarly, to obtain the Compostela it is not necessary to arrive in Santiago in the Holy Year. But the truth is that it is in years such as the one that now begins when the phenomenon of pilgrimages to the Galician capital is at its peak and when Santiago is once again under the light of the millennial focus that illuminates it as a world reference point. 

The Apalpador 

In the dispute between Father Christmas and the Three Wise Men for the Christmas throne, a third contender is fighting in Galicia for the favour of the youngest members of the house. The Apalpador is a traditional figure in the interior of the community, especially in the mountain areas, which has been recovered in recent years and extended to many other Galician towns. According to tradition he is a charcoal maker who visits the houses during the Christmas season, feels the children’s bellies while they are sleeping to see if they are well fed and leaves them a handful of chestnuts as a present. Field research carried out by researchers such as José André Lôpes has made it possible to follow the trail of this tradition through the mountains of Os Ancares and O Courel and to identify the similarities and differences between the Apalpador, also known in some places as Pandigueiro, and other Christmas characters, such as the Basque Olentzero, the Catalan Tió or the Cantabrian Esteru.

The Nativity Scenes

The tradition of recreating the birth of Jesus Christ with figures is present throughout Galicia, both in homes and in places of worship and many other public and private places, and sometimes it also comes to life in the form of stagings in which children, young people and adults play the main characters of this biblical episode. But if there are two places where the tradition of nativity scenes reaches its maximum splendour, it is in the municipalities of Valga and Begonte, whose stagings have been considered celebrations of tourist interest. The Handmade Nativity Scene in Movemento de Valga was born 25 years ago and stands out for the elaborated network that gives life to part of its more than 4,000 figures, among which there is always room for the most outstanding characters of today. Even more veteran is the Electronic Nativity Scene of Begonte, which started in 1972 and combines typical Christmas scenes with representations of the rural world of the Terra Chá region. In both cases, the people who visit them every year are counted in tens of thousands.

The capon and the cod with cauliflower

Although seafood, in its numerous and tasty varieties, has emerged as one of the star dishes on Christmas menus, the tradition is still present in many homes through other ingredients and preparations. This is the case with capon, whose most famous exponent is that of Vilalba, where a monographic fair is dedicated to it, marking the beginning of Christmas and whose fame extends throughout Galicia and beyond the borders of the community. Another traditional dish is the cod with cauliflower, a recipe whose popularity some scholars relate to the vigil that was in force for a long time on Christmas Eve and which prevented people from eating meat. The characteristics of its two main ingredients contributed to the fact that it was a star dish on Christmas Eve, since cauliflower was a common vegetable in Galician kitchen garden and cod has traditionally been a cheap and easy to preserve fish.

The Panxoliñas

The panxoliñas are the main musical compositions of the Galician Christmas. Although usually identified with carols, some researchers have highlighted that there are differences. While carols are musical compositions used in the liturgy in churches and do not necessarily have to be about Christmas motifs, panxoliñas always have that theme and are popular songs that neighbours and families sing in front of the Nativity scene and during Christmas celebrations. Within the panxoliñas, different sub-genres can be distinguished: the panxoliñas themselves, which are those that refer to visits to the Nativity scene; the “nadais”, which are sung on 25th December; the New Year’s songs, the aguinaldos and the Wise Men songs.

Christmas Log and Lume Novo

In some places in Galicia they preserve a tradition that is also present in other areas of Europe and that is linked to ancient rites related to the winter solstice.  This is the Christmas log, a practice related to the idea of the transition from the old to the new and which consisted of lighting a wooden log that had to remain lit for a certain time. This was explained by authors such as Vicente Risco, who also pointed out that the resulting ashes were used as fertilizer, and there are those who point out that this same material was used to cure fevers. In some places, the ember was kept alive until the New Year, in others it was lit briefly during each day as a symbol of protection for the home, and in a few places it was kept to be lit again during stormy days. This practice would also be linked to another traditional event of these dates in Galicia, that of the Lume Novo (New Fire), which consisted precisely of lighting a fire after the New Year’s Eve dinner that served to guide the souls of the deceased. This fire was to be fed throughout the night so that the kitchens could be lit with it on New Year’s Day.

Nights of jokes and rites

The 28th December, the feast of the Holy Innocents, is a date traditionally associated with jokes throughout Spain and a large part of Latin America, but in some areas of Galicia there are other Christmas days that are also suitable for the jokes. In some places these were held at the end of the Midnight Mass, the religious service that takes place on the 24th December before midnight, while in other parts of the community the jokes were held on the 26th, St. Stephen’s Day. In addition, there was also time in these evenings to think about the future through other rites that were aimed to find out what the next crops would be like and to encourage the production of the fruit trees by the expeditious method of stoning them.

It is erroneously known by a lot of people as the shortest night of the year (a title that actually corresponds to the summer solstice, which is celebrated a couple of days earlier). But what the night of San Xoán can boast of is that it is the most magical, since behind the Christian connotation of its name hides an ancestral celebration that still preserves some of its original rites. The main one is that of the bonfires themselves, the main reason for a celebration that starts in the late afternoon of the 23rd and reaches the central moment from midnight, when the fire makes an act of presence.

Christian tradition associates these bonfires with the fire that Zechariah, father of St. John the Baptist, would have lit to celebrate the birth of his son. But according to many historians this interpretation would only be the result of trying to Christianize previous pagan rites related to the summer solstice. This last date marks the moment from which the days begin to be shorter and the nights longer, so the objective of those who lit the first bonfires at that time in June was to try to provide new forces to the sun to stop that process.

Anyway, the custom of celebrating the evening around the fire has come down to us as a symbol of purification that serves at the same time to rid us of evil spirits and to entrust ourselves to the protection of the fire for the rest of the year. To achieve both objectives it is enough to jump over the bonfire, a practice that in many places in Galicia has to be done a total of nine times, although in other places this number varies (but it is always odd).

The San Xoán is a collective celebration that invades public spaces of all kinds bringing together neighbors, families and friends. Squares, beaches, parks, streets, lots and other diverse locations serve as meeting points for people of all ages, from small children who are initiated in the rite of fire by jumping over a few coals removed from the large bonfires, to already veteran neighbors who want to see if the essence of the party remains intact. Crowded meetings that bring together hundreds or thousands of people live together in the same night with small family and neighborhood gatherings, all united by a common spirit. From A Coruña, where its spectacular celebration was declared of international tourist interest in 2015, to the smallest village, they share an evening of tradition and fun that is always open to anyone who wants to join in.

Both the bonfires and the San Xoán celebration itself enjoy different names throughout Galicia: cachelas, cacharelas, cacheiras, lumeiras, laradas, lumaradas, fogueiras… What does not vary is the rite of jumping over the flames or the star dish that adds flavour to the evening. “For St. John the sardine wets the bread”, says the saying and this is fulfilled to the letter in almost all the Galician celebrations. Before the smoke from the bonfires makes itself felt in the air, it is the aroma of roasted sardines accompanied by bread (preferably corn bread) that is present as another symbol of the evening. The wine that accompanies this tasty fish and the queimada, with its rite and purifying meaning, are two other ingredients that cannot be missing in many of the San Xoán celebrations.

But fire is not the only element of purification associated with this magical night. In some places in Galicia, water is also used to achieve this effect by replacing or complementing the jump over the flames with immersion in the cold sea water. And in some cases, as in the beach of A Lanzada, this bathing is directly related to another rite, in this case of fertility, which is celebrated on the last weekend of August and according to which women who wish to overcome infertility and become mothers must let themselves be beaten nine times by the waves that bathe the beach located at the foot of the chapel of the same name. There are those who maintain that this rite can also be performed during the night of San Xoán, but purists defend that it is a matter of confusion.

Water is also an important ingredient in another of the central rites of the galician San Xoán that has its roots in the pre-christian pagan celebrations of the summer solstice. In this case, we are talking about the San Xoán herbs, a tradition that consists of collecting and preparing a bunch of different plant species on the 23rd and submerging it in a container of water. The next day the liquid is used to wash away the evil eye and envy, while the corsage is dried and stored to be burned a year later. The tradition is as extended as varied is the list of herbs that should be used, since the peculiarities of each area take precedence over other considerations when preparing the bouquet, but one of the most widespread “recipes” dictates that the seven varieties to use are fennel, male fern, wort of San Xoán, mallow, rosemary, lemongrass and broom. In many places the herbs are also used as amulets for the protection of the home and are placed in the entrances of the houses, also giving a little more color to the streets in which for one night the light of the streetlamps will be replaced by the glow of the bonfires.

The structure built in the parish of Carreira thanks to the determination of the members of the association O Santiaguiño allows us to know a rural practice that disappeared several decades ago and also serves as a demonstration of how the lack of means was replaced in others times with simplicity and inventiveness. The main purpose of the “cabana”, which is how the people of Carreira continue to call it, was to protect the own raw material from which it was made serving at the same time as continent and content.

A few wooden sticks stuck in the ground, arranged in a circle and joined at the top to form a conical structure are the skeleton of these constructions that were made at the time of collecting the corn with the straw left over from the process. Grains were the most precious asset of that activity, but the reeds that supported the spikes also had an important value for the farmers because they served to feed the cattle during the winter. As the possibilities of transport and storage were few, the cabins built with the straw became the ideal option to carry out this work since the outer cover kept the inner part protected from the inclement weather. They were, therefore, constructions with expiration date since they were disappearing as the straw was removed so that the cattle could eat.

The elaboration of these cabins, as happened with many other agricultural works, was a collective activity in which different neighbors participated. And by its own shape, with an opening and a hollow space inside, the resulting structure was used by the inhabitants of the place as a refuge when bad weather surprised them working and as a meeting point. Like the “lareiras”, laundries, mills and other places related to rural life, the cabins were also a propitious space to share stories and confidences.

The modernization of the agricultural facilities and the change in the way of feeding of the cattle caused the abandonment of this practice until its almost total disappearance. In Carreira, it was at the beginning of the past decade when they decided to recover this tradition by setting up a new cabin and turning it into a reason for collective celebration and reaffirmation of pride in the rural world. Since then several have already builted for the enjoyment of anyone who go to that parish of Zas. This unique relic of life and work in the rural world awaits there who wants to see it closely.

Any time of the year is good to go to San Andrés de Teixido, but on November 30th (and the previous days) it is one of the most marked dates because it is the day on which the festival of the patron of the place is celebrated. There are several rites that will have to be fulfilled by those who approach there: take a stone along the way to deposit it in a “milladoiro” (rock mounds deposited by pilgrims); kiss the small image of the saint inside the sanctuary, visit the miraculous fountain or make the bouquet of St. Andrew. Another of the rites of the place was related to the famous “Herba de Namorar” (weed to fall in love), although today it has been affected because it is an endangered species that should not be torn off.

The pilgrimage to San Andrés began at least in the 12th century, but its importance as a place of worship starts much earlier, which allows us to see how, as with other celebrations, millenary customs and superstitions are hidden under the Christian culture. Already in the time of the Celts, these places enthralled the inhabitants of the area, which made them the scene of various rituals related to the transit of earthly life to the beyond through the seas. Local tradition relates these rites directly to the Holy Company to indicate that the souls in pain that make up this spooky procession also go to San Andrés de Teixido looking for the gateway to the next life. Hence the famous expression “A San Andrés de Teixido vai de morto quen non foi de vivo” (To San Andrés goes live who didn’t go dead).

The transition from the Celtic tradition to Christianity did not subtract mysticism from the place and even gave rise to more mythical tales. One of them tells that the place is dedicated to San Andrés because the saint himself stepped on those lands. According to this legend, the saint arrived in a ship that was shipwrecked and his remains became a rock, known as the Barca de San Andrés (Saint Andrew’s boat) for its resemblance to an inverted hull. Another one of these stories places Jesus Christ and Saint Peter in Teixido and tells that the first ordered Saint Andrew to remain in the place assuring him that he would never miss the visits of people arriving from many other places.

Today, the current sanctuary, which began to be built in the fourteenth century and received several subsequent reforms, is indeed the goal of a multitude of people who come there to demonstrate their fervor, to continue the tradition, to enjoy a enthralling landscape and, also, not to have to return in the next life.

The xenerais (generals) parade in the days of Carnival through the parishes of the A Coruña municipalities of Boqueixón, Santiago de Compostela, Teo, Touro and Vedra, and the Pontevedra municipalities of Vila de Cruces, A Estrada and Silleda, all of them in the shadow of the imposing Pico Sacro mountain. They wear a spectacular suit in which a very tall cap stands out, decorated with coloured feathers and, in the best designs, peacock feathers. The jacket is dark and is usually covered in chevrons, medals and gold epaulettes, and cinched to the body with a red sash and a flag. These costumes are very valuable, and it is not unusual to see the xenerais traveling from parish to parish with a simpler hat, to preserve the integrity of the main one.

The Xenerais da Ulla ride on mounts as well groomed as they are. The horses, exceptionally cared for, are also adorned with feathers and special harnesses. In many of them, a mirror piece fixed on the head stands out.

Along with the xenerais travel from village to village the so called correos (couriers), usually young people dressed in a somewhat more modest manner, with a circular cap and bells hanging from both the suit and the horse’s harness. These figures are responsible for announcing the arrival of the xenerais at the parishes and to assist the main characters. Also in the entourage is a person who carries a wooden box in which the neighbours introduce money. Why?

The contributions are made so that the xenerais, when arriving at the door of a house, will stop to say the vivas (cheers) that is, to pronounce, sword raised, words of praise for the donor and their family. The cheers are usually a prelude to the combats in which the xenerais measure their prowess: the “atranques”.

These are purely dialectic fights, in which two xenerais face off with ingenious rhymes aimed at making fun of the opponent, waving the sword with ease and sitting very stiffly on the chair. In them it is not uncommon to discuss the neighbourhood and political issues that marked the past year. For many years now there have been xenerais of both sexes, and all of them show a great verbal skill in this type of horseback spat..

Carnival traditions are very abundant in the region of the Ulla, and these main characters are accompanied, varying from one municipality to the next, by other traditional characters, such as the king and queen (dressed similarly to the xenerais and the correos, but travelling on foot), the Demon (particular and unique, since it is only found in the village of Reis in Teo), the choirs or the troupes mounted on peculiar artisan carriages.

This is one of those  autochthonous traditions that, fortunately, have been revived in recent times, after many years of oblivion. It’s the same thing that happened with celebrations like the Samhain: the celebration of pumpkins and the dead, of celtic roots, was years ago hardly remembered by the elders and now it has become one of the most awaited dates for the children throughout the Community, partly because of the recovery work done by collectives and institutions and also because of the pull of other similar events of similar origin, such as Halloween.

In the case of the Apalpador, a decade ago this figure was remembered little elsewhere than in the mountains of eastern Lugo. The area of O Courel and Ancares, full of isolated valleys of wild beauty, preserves real ethnographic treasures barely known even by the rest of Galicia, as in this case. Historians such as José André López then described the character  saying that he “dwells in the meadows dedicated to making charcoal, a giant wearing a beret and a ragged and patched jacket, smoking a pipe and feeding on wild berries and wild boar.” He comes down the mountain on the night of December 31st while the children are asleep to feel their bellies and know if they are hungry or not, and gives them a handful of chestnuts. The testimonies of many elderlies who remember the visits of this character were the basis for the rebirth of the myth.

His description (a large man, not very well groomed, good-natured and living in the wilderness) relates him to other Christmas figures from nearby places. As, for example, with the Basque Olentzero, with whom he shares clothing and profession, since both live isolated and work on making charcoal. They both symbolize the end of the year, the break with the old times that are ending and the birth of a new era.

Associated with the arrival of the so-called Pandigueiro some songs are remembered with which the elders tried to calm the nerves of the children on the night of his arrival, and which are now sung in many schools, with verses such as “go then my little boy, go now to bed, the Apalpador will come to touch your tummy”. As a result of the recovery of this popular myth many children’s books, records or plays in which it is explained who this giant is have emerged. As it is logical, they are specially successful at Christmas time.

Nowadays the Apalpador brings children something more than chestnuts, and it is the occasion for toys, clothes or candy to appear at the foot of the bed. So now you know, if at the start of the new year you are in Galicia and you find gifts or chestnuts in your room, do not think badly of your neighbours: it was the Pandigueiro that came to visit.