Pamplona (EFE).- The Government of Navarra and the Pamplona City Council have shared this Saturday the celebration of the declaration of the Municipal City Body as an Asset of Cultural Interest of the (BIC) of an intangible nature, a recognition granted by the Executive on last January 25, coinciding with the 600th anniversary of its origin, in 1423.
It has been the first time that both institutions share a singular act and courtship, with the City Corps, as it is currently known, as the protagonist.
The acts began around eleven o’clock in the morning, when the Municipal Corporation in City Corps left the Town Hall. That is, with the big heads, kilikis and zaldikos; the giants with pipers and txistularis, the Duguna dance group, gala txistularis, bugles and kettledrums, standard-bearer and tassel-bearer, maceros, liveries, the Municipal Corporation, the Municipal Police Headquarters, the gala guard, and the music band La Pamplona.
After going through several streets of the Old Town, the procession reached the main entrance of the Palacio de Navarra, in whose Throne Room the Provincial Government offered a brief welcome to the municipal corporation, after which both institutions returned to the street, where the Provincial Executive has joined the procession, with his own accompaniment of the Queen of Arms, maceros, timbaleros, head of the Provincial Police and police officers in gala.
In parade formation, the procession has gone to the garden of the Palace, which has opened its doors exceptionally to host the main act of the day.
In the enclosure, all the members of the delegation have been located, on both sides of the pond, chaired by the components of the Government and the City Council, located on the stairs of the entrance to the Old Archive.
The act has combined the interventions of the authorities with different music and dance performances led by the Duguna dance group, the giants with their accompaniment of pipers, and the La Pamplonesa music band.
Chivite is committed to preserving this heritage
During her speech, President María Chivite highlighted that the City Corps “is known and recognized in all homes, where, generation after generation, families share a tradition and a feeling, as well as an emotion”, reason for which the celebration has been opened to all citizens.
But he has also highlighted his contribution to coexistence in the city, “because it unites us around it” and has shown his confidence that the declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest “is one more step in the preservation of a heritage, which will continue surviving over the years, if the institutions and society continue to join forces for its conservation and vitality”.
For his part, the mayor of Pamplona, Enrique Maya, thanked the cultural recognition that, as he stressed, includes all the members of the City Corps. It is a day “to remember”, he said, which coincides with the 600th anniversary of the Privilege of the Union, “the most important document in the history of our city”.
In this sense, he was pleased that this extraordinary outing of the procession was unanimously approved in plenary session of the City Council. “What separates us tends to attract more attention than what unites us, when, really, there are many issues that we unanimously approve, like this one”, he concluded.
Finally, the Minister of Culture and Sports, whose department has promoted the declaration as BIC, has pointed out that intangible cultural heritage, “despite its fragility, is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization.” She has also celebrated that the recognition guarantees the safeguarding of this cultural asset, for which she has asked that its evolution be respected and the generational transmission of knowledge be preserved.
After the act, both institutions, in procession formation, have left the garden and have walked the avenue of San Ignacio and the Plaza del Castillo, up to the door of the façade of the avenue of Carlos III of the Palace, where the joint celebration. After dismissing the Government there, the City Council in Body of the City has returned to the Consistory.
six centuries of history
The City Body has its origin in the Privilege of the Union, granted by King Carlos III the Noble, in 1423, and which led to the pacification of Pamplona. With this denomination the system of representation of the city is defined, which, throughout its history, has been conforming to a traditional protocol and procession.
The procession, which has a reduced or extensive format, takes to the streets on specific dates, such as the Renewal of the Vow of the Five Wounds (Holy Thursday), March on the Vespers of San Fermín (July 6), Procession of San Fermín ( July 7), Octave of San Fermín (July 14), Privilege of the Union (September 8) and Procession of San Saturnino (December 29).
In addition to the Pamplona City Corps, the Government of Navarra has recognized the Lantz carnival, the Ituren and Zubieta carnivals, the Three Cows Tribute, the Luzaide Bolantes as Assets of Cultural Interest, of an intangible nature. / Valcarlos, the Paloteado de Cortes, bertsolarismo and the Jota Navarra.