This tradition has lasted for more than a century.
They comment, between laughter and touches of the irreverence that they display, that In Alcázar de San Juan, Christmas is experienced as a kind of festive schizophrenia, that goes from nougat to costume and from costume to shortbread to then move on to the puppets, then pay attention to the gifts and, of course, end up burying the sardine while the rest of Spain celebrates the day of the Innocents.
And it is that in this locality of the northeast of Real city the carnivals do not mark the beginning of Lent, but rather have been going on for more than a century, with occasional interruptions, making Christmas not just four days of lunch and dinner, but a week of cheeky celebration that begins this December 21st and runs through the 28th.
The people of Alcazar decided that Christmas was not enough
To find the origin of this festive overdose, it would be necessary to go back about 200 years in history, specifically to the time of the War of Independence, when its existence as a form of popular opposition against the French is already mentioned in some documents.
“At that time, on the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, they began to celebrate some pagan dances inside the Church of San Francisco after Midnight Mass”, tells Traveler.es Rosa Melchor, mayor of Alcázar de San Juan.
“This became popular to such an extent that when the authorities and institutions of the time tried for two or three years to recover normality and align with the rest of the planet to do it in February, such was the failure that they returned to December. Although things were organized officially in February, everyone dressed up in December, " Melchior continues.
Thus, while the rest of Spain crosses its arms on the afternoon of December 25, entrusting itself to the titanic task of digesting before the New Year's Eve banquet, in Alcázar de San Juan they do not take off their party clothes because the Carnavalcázar, name that the carnival adopted in 1993, is ready to live its big days on December 26, 27 and 28. Those who earned him the title of Fiesta of Regional Tourist Interest in 1991 and Fiesta of National Tourist Interest just a few days ago.
Children's parade, floats, murgas, burial of the sardine...
Gone will be the proclamation held on the 21st (8:00 p.m.), hangs it from dolls on balconies and windows and the parade of comparsas December 22 (5:00 p.m.).
“Some 20 floats from all over Spain participate. Imagine the number of thousands of people that means because the comparsas are very large (...) As they are people who are not the first year that comes, what we do is get in touch with them and almost make a query to find out which one is the day they prefer so that there is maximum participation”, explains Melchor.
The legs will already be warming up for the Bike ride on the 26th (6:00 p.m.), the bicycle parade that celebrates its third edition with a route of 4 km and 300 meters to be carried out in disguise, large and small, in about half an hour.
“What we are trying to do is that, relying on the carnival, people increasingly use bicycles and public transport” , points out the mayor. And from there, to murga festival (8:30 p.m.), in which the local groups will pull their wits and spin very fine to get a smile with their peculiar reviews of what has been the year that ends.
The popular parade, another of the highlights of the carnival
Because yes, the Carnavalcázar does not lack anything. “We do the carnival in December, but like the rest of the carnivals: children's parade, murgas, parade of floats, burial of the sardine…” Melchor points out.
For this reason, on the 27th (7:45 p.m.) the the popular parade of masks after having taken down and blanketed some puppets that on the 28th they will accompany the sardine in its smoking finale.
In Alcázar de San Juan, sardines are also buried and burned, although previously you have to mourn her in the circles of stretcher tables, a tradition that was born to bring to the streets those gossip, gossip and activities that traditionally take place around them.
The grandmother of La Mancha costume takes the cake and the mistela is used to better pass the sorrows and leave room for the roasted sardines that will be distributed later in the bullring.
“Let them go as they should go to carnivals: with an open mind and have a great time (...) And that they find a room to stay because I'm sure they will want to spend the night with us since after the parades the party begins in all the nightlife venues” , recommends Melchor to novices who start enjoying the Carnavalcázar.
And yes, the sardine is also burned