Lorena Rodriguez de la Torre
Xinzo (Ourense), Jan 29 (EFE).- Everything is ready in Xinzo de Limia to start one of the longest and most participatory entroidos in the province. After the firecracker and the fareleiro Sunday, the carnival in Galicia is inaugurated.
After the stoppage suffered by the pandemic, this town in Ourense, one of the points marked in red on the Galician carnival calendar, has kicked off the longest cycle of entroido (as carnival is known in Galicia) in the northwest of the peninsula , this time without restrictions, with an authentic flour battle, where old and young do not get rid of ending up completely white. All this, enlivened by the music of the brass bands.
“Finally the Xinzo entroido returns, although we never left,” says the town’s councilor, Elvira Lama, who points out that for days there has already been a “great desire” to “resume” the traditional festivals, without restrictions.
Starting this weekend, visitors will be able to enjoy an intense month full of events, which start with this fareleiro Sunday, and continue on the next two Sundays: Oleiro and Corredoiro, dates that are the prelude to the “fat” days of the entroido that can be enjoyed throughout the province.
In case there was any doubt, in Xinzo they summarize the entroido in three words: tradition, respect and sentiment; the latter, deeply rooted among the Screens, the characteristic character and authority of the entroido in this town.
And it is that, the Galician entroido has its own terminology that everyone should know upon arrival: in Galicia the entroido, entrudio or antroido is celebrated, and not the carnival, with its own characters: Pantallas, Peliqueiros, Cigarróns or Boteiros.
In each locality, these characters perform a different function, although they all have a common characteristic: imposing their Law.
Of uncertain origin, this character with a cynical smile and who usually carries some element in his hand, announces the proximity of the festivities to Don Carnal, reaching its peak in the Ourense province, in a period where nobody is governed by civil regulations or religious precepts because the laws are their own. Not surprisingly, this period is characterized by the liberation and rupture of the established order.
To whet the festive month, visitors can now enjoy the entroido throughout the province. This is the case of Maceda and Verín, where these characters were seen this weekend, with their usual anarchy and out of script.
As a main course, today Xinzo de Limia -whose entroido has been declared of International Tourist Interest- celebrates one of its main dishes, the fareleiro, a pitched flour battle, the first of the three rituals prior to the great Entroido Sunday in the region of A Limia, which opens a long festival cycle in Galicia on this day.
Despite the apparent chaos, its experts assure that there are some unwritten rules: do not throw flour into the eyes or into shop windows. Of course, it is mandatory to “get into fariña”. Hence, it is common to see people with diving glasses or their oldest clothes.
The mayoress, Elvira Lama, highlights Efe above all the great atmosphere that is breathed these days to enjoy “twelve days of partying.” Everything is perfectly organized, she adds. As she explains, “every year the commission works to improve the program, thinking of all audiences.”
“Everything is perfectly synchronized so that there is room for all kinds of audiences,” insists Lama, who ensures that the premise for enjoying the Xinzo carnival is shared: “Let no one feel like a stranger.”
Anyone who wants or thinks of going to Galicia these days will be able to enjoy these celebrations perfectly rooted in this area, which make up the roots of the most authentic carnival in the mountain areas of all of Europe. EFE
