Quasimodo Day - the procession

The second Monday after Easter Sunday is celebrated as "Romeria del Lunes de Quasimodo" and is when the Olverenos meet in the campo (countryside) at the church of Nuestra Senora de los Remedios to give thanks for the rains that ended a prolonged drought in 1715. According to tradition it rained on this day and thereafter every year since there has been a mass pilgrimage from Olvera to celebrate the event. Where the name Quasimodo comes from though is a mystery lost in the mists of time.

Apparently, the exodus to the church which is about 3kms or about a half hour stroll from Olvera, begins at six in the morning when families start to arrive to lay claim to the best pitches for their barbeques and picnic's.

Due to the number of pictures, I have divided the post into two parts....this one, the procession and the next post about our arrival in the campo.

So, our day started at about 10am when we started the walk out to the campo. Arriving at the Plaza de Concordia, we unexpectedly came upon a procession of tractors pulling a variety of brightly coloured carriages, made to look like old gypsy caravan's and each belonging to a family or group of friends. So we stopped for a while to take it in.

So there we were, sitting quietly enjoying the procession when........"Anna, Anna, Venga, venga (come, come).....it was Maricarmen, our neighbour. Cervesa o vino (beer or wine) she asked. So the beers were handed out and we became camp followers and part of the procession. This is a picture of the family caravan with Maricarmen and her son Paco sitting on the back.





Another of our neighbours, Monica with Lara her daughter, both dressed beautifully in traditional dress.











Maricarmen and friend doing some street flamenco......and very good they were too.












Not far now. The final destination is ahead but after a few beers, good music and a few laughs along the route, it hadn't seemed that far.











Lara again....she's going to break a few hearts.













Anne with Paco, Maricarmen's husband. he is a really lovely guy, very quiet and reserved, totally the opposite of Maricarmen.


Nearly at the campo now. More on the next post.