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Madrid’s
Festival of San Isidro in May
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The
festival of San Isidro, Saint Isidore, one of
Madrid's patron saints, takes place during the month of May.
The San Isidro festival is the most important bullfighting
festival in the world, but offers other celebrations as well
that include fairs, concerts, dances and the romeria,
a kind of pilgrimage, to the ermita de San Isidro.
The ermita de San Isidro is an early
eighteenth-century chapel, where, out of tradition or
belief, the faithful partake of the miraculous water looking
for health or purification. San Isidro offers a great chance
to see Madrid during one of its main festivals, as locals
take to the streets with communal singsongs, street vendors
selling the traditional wafers, or barquillos known
as pan de angel (angel's bread), late night eating of
churros dipped in chocolate, and music playing
everywhere. |
The Madrileños
have taken the somewhat saintly story of San Isidro and turned it
into giant fiesta. Legend has it that the saint was an
impoverished farm worker who, along with his wife Santa Maria de
la Cabeza, became famous for giving food to the poor. On another occasion
during a drought he broke the earth with a scythe which brought
forth a spring of water which gave sufficient water to supply all
of Madrid. The pious couple, who first made their appearance in
the Middle Ages, also became associated with various miraculous
works which led to their joint beatification.
These days San Isidro stands for fun, with the official festival -
which dates from 1947 -running from about May 8-15, but with
events often spilling over for much longer.
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Isidro is also closely linked to bullfights with numerous corridas
taking place as part of the celebrations - securing
tickets for
Las
Ventas arena,
however,
is no easy task. Even if you never set foot in the
capital's main bull ring, Las Ventas, it's difficult to
avoid seeing a fight as they are screened on TV throughout
the season and tend to be the television viewing choice in
many bars.
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you're not a bullfight fan, the heart of the festival is
music which is performed in locations throughout the city.
The best places for live acts are Las Vistillas, the park
next to the Palacio Real, and Plaza Mayor where there's a
concert of some sort every night. Rock concerts are held
at the bigger venue of the Casa de Campo, the vast open
parkland to the west of the city. Jazz lovers go to
performances at the Colegio San Juan Evangelista, while
children are also treated to an extensive program of
events.
Many
Madrid natives will dress up in one of their traditional
folk costumes. There are two kinds of costume: the majos
and majas, and the chulos and chulapas.
The former is the popular dress as recorded in Goya’s
works, the men looking rather bandolero-like, the
women sporting high combs and lace shawls. Chulos
and chulapas are even more engrained in the spirit
of Madrid. This costume is rather like that of London's
pearly kings and queens and probably dates from around the
same time - white neckerchiefs, black-and-white check
jackets, waistcoats and caps for the men and clinging,
frilly dresses and headscarves for the women. Chulos
and chulapas dance to the chotis, a slow,
polka-like air, preferably heard on a barrel piano. The
lady dances in courtly fashion around the man, who rotates
arrogantly on the spot, only shuffling his feet to face
his partner. It is very theatrical and great fun to watch.
A full
program detailing the festivities is available from
Spanish tourist board offices in the city four or five
days before the festival begins. Escuela Internacional
helps students studying Spanish at the Alcalá de Henares
Center during these dates to select interesting concerts
and events and orient them to the locations of the various
festivities. But if you’re in Madrid, the festivities
are everywhere and hard to miss. Enjoy May in Madrid!
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Escuela Internacional Central Registration Office
C/ Talamanca, 10, 28807 Alcala de Henares (Madrid), España
Teléfono: +34 91 883 12 64, Fax: +34 91 883 13 01
e-mail: info@escuelai.com
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