Día de la Vieja - Old Lady Day
Thursday, March 19, 2009 @ 6:11 PM
Today is a local public holiday. Anyone who has given up something they enjoy for lent will understand that by now it is getting tough. So, locally there is an old tradition going back to the 17th century to help make the sacrifices of lent more bearable. Families picnic on the beach or in the woods having local food and they make a model of an old woman out of paper with a dress, apron and scarf and which is mounted on a cane. Very often the head is filled with sweets or treats. Locally they filled the head with firecrackers so that at the end of the day, it is set on fire and all the firecrackers go off. In other areas, the model is stoned until the sweets fall out of the head for the children to pick up and enjoy.
So, Pulpi council had decided to hold a pensionista day for all the pensioners of Pulpi and Terreros where they cooked a large paella and held a large party in the grounds of the local Community Centre. The mayor and other officials came down to welcome us all to the 'picnic' and they stayed to eat with us.