Día de la Vieja - Old Lady Day!

Today is a local public holiday. Anyone who has given up something they enjoy for lent will understand that by now it is getting tough. So, locally there is an old tradition going back to the 17th century to help make the sacrifices of lent more bearable. Families picnic on the beach or in the woods having local food and they make a model of an old woman out of paper with a dress, apron and scarf and which is mounted on a cane. Very often the head is filled with sweets or treats. Locally they filled the head with firecrackers so that at the end of the day, it is set on fire and all the firecrackers go off. In other areas, the model is stoned until the sweets fall out of the head for the children to pick up and enjoy.

So, Pulpi council had decided to hold a pensionista day for all the pensioners of Pulpi and Terreros where they cooked a large paella and held a large party at the local Community Centre. The mayor and other officials came down to welcome us all to the 'picnic' and they stayed to eat with us. There must have been over 200 people there, and although it's known as Old Lady Day - it isn't just for old ladies it's for everyone. Amelia, one of the ladies from our Ladies Group kindly organised the tickets for the event, as it was entry by ticket only. I understand that this is because last year people came from nearby towns that were not actually under Pulpi Council and therefore should not have been there.

We arrived about 1.30pm and the paella was already in progress, the meat, peppers and tomatoes were already cooking. It was a sizeable pan of paella and the chef was having to work hard to keep it all cooking evenly but he seemed very adept at his job.

Then they seemed to turn up the heat (I think they threw some more logs on the fire) and added the stock which needed to be brought to the boil before addng the rice.

The rice was added with incredible flourish - I suppose to spread it evenly through the pan but it also looked very spectacular.

Finally the prawns were added and before long we were all seated and our paella and bread was served up and brought to our tables by a team of helpers.

Pulpi had provided water and soft drinks but a lot of people had taken beer or wine to enjoy with their meal and it was actually a very nice paella and we all had a good plate full.

Afterward, we were all given an orange for dessert - locally grown of course - and delicious.

Then suddenly there was 6 loud bangs from flares that had been sent up into the clear blue skies. This was to signify that they were getting ready to 'burn the old ladies' and it was time for us all to move through to the other side of the community centre.

I understand the burning of the old ladies signifies the burning away of bad omens.

We were all given either a scarf or a hat to wear and many people went down to have their photos taken by the 'old ladies'. Then they set fire to them and, being made of paper, they were soon burning fiercely. A few moments later the fire reached the firecrackers and the arena erupted into a mass of smoke accompanied by a lot of loud bangs.

The whole thing took about 10 minutes until all that was left was a very sad looking burned out old lady.

It was a really enjoyable afternoon held in wonderful warm sunshine. As we drove away we could see many families on the beach making the most of a holiday day from school and work.

It really feels like the start of summer.