El Pueblo - Part IV Archbishop's Bridge
Dear citizens of the world,
Burn! Burn! Let the village burn!
Although it might come as a shock, my Pueblo is not the only pueblo in Spain. Just five kilometers away there is a village called "El Puente del Arzobispo" (The Archbishop's Bridge - An Archbishop that owned the neighboring village ordered a bridge built over the Tajo River to make the pilgrimage to Guadalupe easier and safer.)
On the 25th Novermber the village celebrates the "Chozas" festival to honor Santa Catalina. The bonfires are built in the middle of the roads all around the village. When the fire burns down the embers are used to BBQ meats (some call the meat juicy, others might call it fatty, yet others just call them tasty).
How did the festival start? The origins are not clear, but most likely, people waiting to cross the river (pre-bridge times) often had to camp out and they would make big bonfires while waiting for dawn when they could forge the river.
Here I offer you some pics from the festival... unfortunately I did not have my camera and I had to catch the happenings the best I could with my mobile phone.
Another day we can talk about the ceramic art which makes the village famous.
The United Statesian
