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The celebration Los Carochos takes place every year on New Year’s day in Riofrío de Aliste, a tiny village in Zamora, very close to the border with Portugal.
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Similar winter masquerades take place since the 26th of December until the 6th of January in other villages both on the Spanish (Aliste) and the Portuguese (Trasosmontes) side of the border.
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The origin of these pagan rites seems to go back to Roman times. Some consider these to be the first carnival celebrations of the year, as they are also related to the cycle of nature (i.e. the planting of seeds and protection against bad harvests).
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The celebrations consist on the theatrical representation of a story in which “good” fights against “evil”.
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Every year young locals dress up and act as the different characters (the devils, a gipsy, a woman with a baby, a blind man that tells stories…)
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the rest of the village intervenes spontaneously in the different scenes as the representation takes place in the streets during several hours.
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Traditionally, men represented women characters, but nowadays in some villages, young women are increasingly taking up the role, as the population in these secluded areas is rapidly shrinking.
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A group of Spanish and Portuguese locals, in collaboration with the Universidad de Castilla y León, are applying to have these traditions recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO
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Los Carochos New Years Celebrations, Zamora, Spain
pura-aventura.com:
Los Carochos New Years Celebrations, Zamora, Spain
pura-aventura.com:
Los Carochos New Years Celebrations, Zamora, Spain
pura-aventura.com:
Los Carochos New Years Celebrations, Zamora, Spain
pura-aventura.com:
Los Carochos New Years Celebrations, Zamora, Spain
pura-aventura.com:
Los Carochos New Years Celebrations, Zamora, Spain