The Guirria and Aguinaldo Festival

The Guirria and Aguinaldo Festival takes place on January 1st  in San Xuan/ San Juan de Beleño, the capital of the district of Ponga. This celebration brings ancestral tradition and romanticism to New Year's Day. El Guirria, a mythological masked being – half trasgu (a mythological creature), half a carnival character – harasses women all day long: hugging them, embracing them and kissing them with total impunity. It is like a grand theatrical play by all the village, both indoors and outdoors.

Escorted by men on horseback, the Guirria is an almost invulnerable character for the year which is beginning. The role is normally played by a young man from the district - whose identity is kept secret -.  He kisses all the girls he finds on his way and beats and throws ashes on anyone who tries to stop him..

Meanwhile, the aguinalderos (gift seekers) ride around the houses on their shiny horses, like courtiers of the almost ghostly raid of the Guirria on the streets and houses of  San Xuan/ San Juan de Beleño. The townspeople generously provide these illustrious visitors with food and drink in their houses. So, with the joyful verses of the aguinalderos, the romantic lack of inhibition of the guirria and the complicity of the townspeople a new year full of joy begins.

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