La Danza de la Lanza

On the last night of April, Jeannie and I had been to Sergio's Christening party in Los Marines, where we hatched a plan with Mariano and Juli to drive up through the hills to the beautiful and remote little village of Hinojales.



On the first of May, the young men of the village perform a dance with castanets, in front of their patroness La Virgen de La Tórtola.





The 7 young men wear a strange costume with embroidered cummerbunds and head-dresses, and pleated starched broderie Anglaise petticoats to their shirts. The dance and the costumes are thought to be Celtic in origin, and were brought here after the villages were repopulated with families from Galicia and Leon after the reconquista.


Everyone puts on their best clothes and the image of Our Lady is carried around the village



A young girl throws rose petals.





We drove north through a blaze of euphorbias, pink phlomis, poppies, blue pimpernels and arrived just in time to see the Virgin being carried from the church of La Consolación. We followed the processions, and when the Virgin was placed once more in front of the altar of the church, all the men who when young had danced in the church (those of them who were fit enough!, removed their jackets and joined in the dance, which turned into a fantastic rout. It was very moving to see people who had left the village to find work in the cities, returning to join in with the festivities.