Montserrat Martínez I Málaga, (EFE).- Its weight in wheat. That is what every neighbor should throw at San Isidro on its festivity, May 15, in the Malaga town of Periana, a municipality that maintains this tradition so that in this way it protects the crops and grants a good harvest next year despite the drought.
There are many towns in Spain that celebrate the festivity of San Isidro, but in this small town in the Axarquía, 58 kilometers from Malaga, the tradition establishes that each family allocate at least the weight of wheat of the largest of its members to the saint . This year, the money raised from the grain will be donated to Ukraine.
More than 40,000 kilos of wheat will fall from the balconies during the procession, which has a route of just over a kilometer, but which lasts twelve hours each year, since all the residents want to offer this precious cereal, explained to EFE the mayor of the municipality, Rafael Torrubia.
The saint makes a stop on the balconies
San Isidro remains in front of each balcony between fifteen minutes and an hour and a quarter, depending on the wheat that each family spreads, which can reach a thousand kilos per house, depending on the members.
The wheat, after passing through the image, falls at his feet, where there is a channel that allows the butlers to collect the cereal with sacks.
The throne is shaped like a hopper and when it is full, which means about 500 kilos in weight, the mayordomos open the gates and return to pour the wheat into sacks, which remain piled up behind the procession, to later sell it and allocate it to causes. solidarity.
A deep-rooted tradition
It is rare to find someone in Periana who has not once carried out a command or has simply thanked the patron for the health and well-being of his family, and among the devotees there are even children who, with the help of their parents, throw their weight of grain with a cube, describes Torrubia.
There are also many people who no longer live in the municipality but who order other neighbors to throw the wheat. “They call us from France, Germany, people who have not lived here but who are grandchildren of locals and do not want the family custom to be lost,” explains the councilor.
In addition, it is a tradition that the families that have had descendants during the year show their children to San Isidro and, if possible, touch him, for which a butler climbs up, takes the child and extends his hand so that don’t miss bread in your life.
cereals and flowers
This tradition began when the farmers wanted to thank San Isidro for the harvest they had obtained, but years have passed and, although wheat is rarely grown in this area now, the neighbors buy it to offer it to them.
According to the alderman, the old people say that before, only the rich could throw sacks, because most of them only had a bowl of cereal or a few chickpeas.
In the fifth month of the year, the month of flowers par excellence, the explosion of nature after winter, the neighbors also throw flowers in their path.
The figure of the saint, adorned with wheat ears and red and white carnations, presides over the procession, which stops at each house, which displays a Manila shawl or a sheet on the balcony, as a sign that it wishes to make this offering.
A true festive explosion that begins with the arrival of good weather and that pays homage to the men and women of the countryside through the pattern of the farmers. EFE