Majos

''Majo'' (masc.) or ''maja'' (fem.), also ''manolo'' and ''manola'', after the most popular names, were people from the lower classes of Spanish society, especially in Madrid, who distinguished themselves by their elaborate outfits and sense of style in dress and manners, as well as by their cheeky behavior.
They flourished from the late 18th to early 19th century, and to some extent later. ''Majos'' and ''majas'' were one of the favorite subjects of some 19th-century Spanish painters.

The ''majos'' and ''majas'' outfits were exaggerations of traditional Spanish dress. The style stood in strong contrast to the French styles affected by many of the Spanish elite under the influence of the Enlightenment. ''Majos'' were known to pick fights with those they saw as ''afrancesados'' ("Frenchified" – fops).

In Spanish, the word possesses derived forms such as ''chulapo'' and ''chulapa'', a version of ''chulo'' and ''chula'' in reference to their saucy attitude, as well as ''chispero'' and ''chispera'', among others.

Popularity

Although ''majos'' of both sexes were frequent subjects of painter Francisco Goya, two of his ''majas'', ''La maja vestida'' and ''La maja desnuda'' (the same model, naked), would gain international renown.

The outfit of the ''maja'' would influence the costume of the eponymous protagonist of Georges Bizet's French opera ''Carmen'' in the mid-19th century.

In the 20th century, with the popularization of Spain as a tourist destination, the ''manola'' or ''maja'', often holding a folding fan, increasingly gained recognition as the image of a stereotypical traditional Spanish woman. Thus the ''maja'' became one of the popular and informal symbols of Spain, along with the bullfighter, who took the place of the ''majo''. Some of the 20th-century depictions of the ''maja'' became somewhat assimilated into the flamenco dancer (''la bailaora''). Nowadays, the increasing popularity of the ''maja'' has ended up eclipsing that of the ''majo''.

The image of a ''maja'' was the trademark of the Jabón Maja Myrurgia soap, one of the classical souvenirs from Spain. The brand's portrait of the ''maja'' in the soap boxes and wrappings was based on the person of Carmen Tórtola Valencia (1882–1955), a famous Spanish dancer of the early 20th century.El Mundo - La musa del 'jabón' que enamoró a los poetas

Gallery

File:Goya Maja ubrana2.jpg, Goya's ''La maja vestida'', c. 1798–1805
File:Manola-Ulpiano Checa.JPG, A typical ''manola'' with a folding fan by Ulpiano Checa
File:1922 spain jarez mantilla.jpg, A ''manola'' with mantilla, 1925
File:El majo de la guitarra.jpg, ''El majo de la guitarra'', painting by Ramón Bayeu, 1786

See also

*Guappo
*Apaches
*Cholo
*Chicano

References

External links

{{commons category, Manolos and Manolas
Los castizos madrileñosTópicos andaluces en el cine contemporáneo: de la españolada al poscostumbrismoCarmen Tórtola Valencia, pasión por el coleccionismo

History of Madrid
Spanish culture
Subcultures