Comarca de Aliste (Provincia de Zamora, España)

Aliste is a

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

located in the west of the province of Zamora,

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of th ...

, Spain, bordering with Portugal in the west and in the south. It covers 193,883 hectares. Aliste is an area that has preserved a rich cultural and ethnological tradition through years of isolation. Aliste is perhaps the poorest zone within the province, the economy of this deeply rural comarca is based on

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

rearing. The origin of the name Aliste appears as ''Alesti'' in a 9th Century manuscript, referring to the trees (''alisos'') which can be seen on the banks of what is now called the

Aliste River Aliste may refer to several municipalities in ''comarca'' of Aliste, in the Zamora province of northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto ...

. The Aliste comarca is one of the few areas in Western Europe having a sizeable population of wild

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

living in the

Sierra de la Culebra The Sierra de la Culebra, or Serra da Coroa (in Portuguese language, Portuguese), is a mountain range in Castile and León, northwest Spain, and northeastern Portugal. It lies 7 km south of Puebla de Sanabria in the comarcas of Aliste (comarca ...

mountain range in the northwest of the comarca.

Geography

The terrain is rolling and hilly, alternating with dry landscapes typical to neighboring regions of Portugal. It is bisected by the River Aliste, near which is abundant vegetation, oak trees, and brush. There is a national game reserve located in the

(65,981 hectares), which has the largest population of

in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

Municipalities

Culture

This comarca has various examples of Romanic art in its churches, which can be seen in Tabara, or the clocktower of

Alcañices Alcañices ( pt, Alcanizes) is a small town in the province of Zamora, Spain. It is very close to the Portugal-Spain border, not far from the Portuguese town of Bragança. In fact, the Village is especially remembered for being the seat of the T ...

, as well as the castle of Riomanzanas. There are also historical sites associated with the

Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

Cuisine

The comarca has a diverse regional cuisine, with a famous breed of local cattle known as ''Ternera de Aliste''. Other popular foods include pork, which is slaughtered in local ritual festivals believed to originate with the early Celtic inhabitants of the region.

Music

There are various local music traditions, often employing the bagpipe, flute, and drum, as is common throughout Zamora. The '' gaita alistana'', a type of traditional

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

, is associated with the region, and bears some resemblance to the neighboring gaita transmontana and gaita sanabresa. On some Sundays, and for holidays and festivals of patron saints the locals perform spectacles and traditional dances, such as the

jota Jota may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Iota (Ι, ι), the name of the 9th letter in the Greek alphabet; * (figuratively) ''Something very small'', based on the fact that the letter Iota (lat. i) is the smallest character in the alphabet; * The name of t ...

. el que toca el tamboril acompaña la gaita con el canto de letras adaptadas al ritmo del baile.

Fragment of a typical ''jota''

Customs

The customs of Aliste are based on long history and legend, with the annual slaughter of livestock (''matanza'') being a major cultural event.

The Alistano language

Alistano is not properly a dialect, but may be considered a variant of Leonese,Gramática histórica de la lengua asturiana. Fonética, fonología e introducción a la "morfosintaxis histórica." Jose Luís García Arias. Oviedo, ALLA, dic/2003. 978-84-8168-341-7 with a distinct personality influenced by

Galician-Portuguese Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle ...

, due to geographic proximity. Gómez Moreno states that the Alistanos "may even belong to the Portuguese race, given the clues remaining in their language." Alistano also shows the influence of Galician, as do many aspects of Alistan culture, which has at least twenty centuries of cultural intercourse with

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. The future of Alistano is difficult, but it is not definitively bound for extinction. It persists primarily amongst the elderly. The influx of the Leonese, increased urbanization (clashing with the primarily rural culture of Aliste), mass media, and the use of Castilian as the official language and language of education, are inexorable factors influencing the decline of Alistano.

Bibliography

*''Costumbres comunales de Aliste'', Santiago Méndez Plaza, Madrid, 1900. *''Historias de la Villa de Nuez y otras de Aliste y Alba'', Gabriel Guarrido Casado, 1966. *''Clima de la provincia de Zamora'', Garmendia.J. (1986):. Publicación I.O.A.T.O. Salamanca. *''El habla de Tierra de Aliste'', José María Baz, Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1967

References

External links

Web de la comarca de AlisteLajafriz - Centro de Turismo Rural en Fornillos de Aliste
{{Coord, 41, 47, N, 6, 18, W, display=title, region:ES_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Province of Zamora Historical regions in Spain