La Vijanera is a fiesta of festive nature that takes place in the town of Silió (

Molledo Molledo is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a histo ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) on the first Sunday of each year. Due to its popularity and tradition, it has been declared a Fiesta of National Tourist Interest.La Vijanera, of National Interest, in ''El Diario Montañés''
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The fiesta

Originally, La Vijanera was celebrated in the valleys of Iguña, Toranzo,

Trasmiera Trasmiera (Spanish: ''Trasmiera''; Cantabrian and historically: ''Tresmiera'') is a historic ''comarca'' of Cantabria (Spain), located to the east of the Miera River (''tras'' Miera, meaning behind Miera, from the point of view of Asturias de Sa ...

Campoo Campoo (formally Campoo-Los Valles) is a ''comarca'' of Cantabria (Spain) located in the High Ebro, with a surface little bigger than 1,000 km2, and including the municipalities of Hermandad de Campoo de Suso, Campoo de Enmedio, Campoo de Yu ...

and

Polaciones Polaciones is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a hi ...

but now the only place in the region where it is just Silió. The first carnival of the year in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

is a colorful masquerade involving approximately 60 characters (all male), ''la madama'', ''el mancebo'', ''los trapajones'', ''el oso'' and ''su dueño'', ''el pasiego'', ''el caballero'', ''la Pepa'' or ''Pepona'', ''el médico'', ''el domador'', ''el húngaro'', ''el viejo'' and ''la vieja'', all dressed in a colorful and own function and symbolism. But the real stars of the festival are los zarramacos because of the importance of their role. These are people dressed in sheepskins and weevils hats in addition to carrying the face painted black that will ward off the evil spirits during the year that jingling bells that are tied to the body. Its mission is to expel these spirits of the town coming up to the limits, tradition that points to much more ancient probably from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times. The second part of the celebration is to review the year end. The Vijaneros waiters gather at the town square and read some verses that, in popular language and tones ranging from jocularity to the cruelty, analyze what happened in the past year from local to international. The fiesta ends with two acts, first produced "la Preñá", ie the calve or birth of the new year. After that, La Vijanera concludes with the death of the Bear, which symbolizes the victory of good over evil and the desire of good intentions for the new year. As can be seen in this fiesta represents the desire to banish the last year and pave the way to the next year to begin with enthusiasm and good wishes. Perhaps because of this that the Roman god

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

is responsible for chairing La Vijanera. In fact, ''Janus'' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

derives from ''Jauna'', ie gate, so it may want to mean "gate between two years" if it consider the prefix vi-(''bi''-, two). As an incentive to the celebration itself, in recent editions has established a photography prize. On the other hand, are plans to build a Museum about the holiday in Silió, among other things contain images of the party. Both initiatives have been promoted by the Asociación de Amigos de la Vijanera, head of the organization and retrieval of this event for more than 25 years after its disappearance in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

References

External links

Page about La Vijanera

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vijanera Cantabrian culture Festivals in Spain Carnivals in Spain Tourist attractions in Cantabria Winter events in Spain

The fiesta

See also

References

External links