FESTIVALS OF POZUELO DE ALARCÓN
NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA CONSOLACIÓN FESTIVAL
The festivity to honour Nuestra Señora de la Consolación is more than a century old and takes place the first Sunday of September. Although the reason for the date of this festivity is unknown, some people say that it may be because it was the season with the least farming production. These festivals are very popular in the area along with the historical fairs of Carabanchel and Vallecas in Madrid.
On Saturday there are the fireworks, then the procession on Sunday, and the bullfighting on Monday and Tuesday. The festivals used to begin with the prayer to the Virgin and a parade, along with a big mass, the procession and the bullfighting. The most popular event is the procession of Virgen de la Consolación's image starting from the parish church with the three local marching bands. El acontecimiento principal de las fiestas corresponde a la procesión de la Virgen de la Consolación, que comienza en la iglesia parroquial.
The festival programme is quite the same every year. On the first Saturday there is a small parade, the opening ceremony and the prayer to the Virgin. The next day there is the great mass and the procession, and on Monday there are the bullfighting activities in Calle Doctor Cornago. A little after the Spanish Civil War the bull runnings started with horses from outside of the town, where bulls were grazing, ending in the current Plaza de la Coronación. Currently, for safety reasons, a kind of plaza is created every year in Camino de las Huertas.
To put an end to these festivals, for the last years, the "peñas" and associations of the municipality sing the so-called "Pobre de mí" song, very famous in different cities in Spain, while the people place some candles in front of the Virgin's image.
NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL CARMEN FESTIVAL
The origin of the festivals to honour Virgen del Carmen dates back to the period when the bourgeois class and lower nobility started to settle down in the residential areas around Pozuelo de Alarcón, founding a a new neighbourhood. The festivals were intended for everyone to enjoy themselves during the summertime, and that is how Virgen del Carmen became the patron saint, being its offical day on the 16th of July.With the time the quality and duration of these festivals has improved, since at the beginning there was not a great deal of funding and they were quite simple. The so-called "recinto ferial" (fairground) is currently opposite to the train station building and Plaza del Gobernador.
SAN SEBASTIÁN FESTIVAL
The festival dedicated to San Sebastían takes place on the 20th of January, when the members of the San Sebastián Fraternity gather to bury their beloved during that year. On Sunday, after this celebration, there is a great mass and a procession with the local marching band. There are these popular sweets, the so-called "caridades," baked donuts with anisette.
EL PELELE
At the same time than the San Sebastián festival there is the festivity of El pelele, which is a big doll symbolizing a man dressed with women clothes as a joke tradition, since women and men used to wear the opposite sex's outfits trying to take them out in the street.
LAS VIEJAS
This is a traditional festivity to honour Virgen del Amor Hermoso, also known as Las Viejas. They take place at the end of May. This festivity was restored due to its long tradition. They used to be an excuse for married women to go out and dance not being accompanied by their husbands, as it was usual. Currently, it is considered to be a reunion for women, both married and single to talk and dance at Plaza de la Coronación.
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