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On Monday, September 6, between Guadix and Baza an ancient festival takes place, possibly the most amusing of all those recognised as being of Tourism of National Interest: the Cascamorras. Put on a few rags and start running or you will be completely blackened...
If you have a couple of free days in September, have no doubt about attending the Cascamorras Festival in Baza and Guadix. The celebration of the festival is multitudinous, colourful and dynamic, where everybody who wants to can take part, whether they are passing through, or are tourists or just want to have a good time. |
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| Los participantes, completamente embadurnados de negro, se refrescan |
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Turned into an important tourist attraction, it is celebrated every year on September 6 at 18:00, being the start of the Feria and Festivals of Baza in honour of the Virgen de la Piedad (Virgin of Piety), which is celebrated from September 6 to September 15 every year. It is a festival astride a pagan celebration and a religious one that with the passage of time has adapted itself along a temporal and spatial evolution but at the same time delving into its own authenticity. On arrival at Baza, the “Cascamorras” daubs himself with Vaseline, puts on his fatigues and warms up with a few short runs, before starting the route through the “bastetana” streets to the Merced (Mercy) temple to try and carry off the Statue. Previously, groups of locals – bastetanos – congregate in the Rodeas to paint each other. It is at the sound of the third rocket when they run towards the Cascamorras in a struggle to be the first to paint the character and thus fulfil the tradition. Red ochre and powder blue have given way to the blackness of burnt oil, which with the passage of years, has little by little imposed itself and gives the bastetanos an impressive and spectacular look. Due to the persistent heat of the month in which the festival takes place; water is an indispensable element, whether it is combined with the colouring or as a means to refresh the Cascamorras. The first bath is taken at a Caño (Spout) close to the bull ring, later there will be another bath at the Caños Dorados (Golden Spouts), which is the most eagerly awaited for by many bastetanos who after cooling down, call for and cheer in unison: ¡Bandera! (Flag!). As they bend down, the “Cascamorras” waves the flag above their heads to cheers. Shortly afterwards, he arrives at the doors of the Virgen de la Merced Convent, where the journey ends amongst applauses, shouts and cheers for the Cascamorras and the Virgin, after which, he enters the temple having again waved the flag. The Brothers go to the Parish of San Juan Bautista, returning to the Mercy convent with candles, in memory of the worship given to the Virgin the first time she was removed from her confinement. In the convent’s pool, the Cascamorras removes the paint from himself with olive oil. Then, decked in a multicolour suit, he goes to the church to give thanks to the Holy Virgin. Let’s not forget that it’s about a deeply rooted religious tradition that maintains both cities – Baza and Guadix – in perpetual dispute. On September 8, in the evening, and in the presence of ladies wearing the classic Spanish mantilla, the Virgen de la Piedad, crosses the principal streets in solemn procession. It’s the first day of the Feria Mayor. With the procession over, in the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) the flag dances for the last time, thus concluding the Cascamorras’ stay in Baza who then returns to Guadix, in the knowledge that the welcome he will receive there will be no better than in Baza, after all the accitanos (natives of Guadix) will be angry with the Cascamorras for not having recovered the Virgin for the city of Guadix. |
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Recommendations
Surroundings
The whole route from Guadix to Almeria is spectacular: we pass through an oasis after the desert of La Hoya, with the Sierra Nevada and the Alpujarra on our right and the Sierra de los Filabres on the left.Look out for Jeres del Marquesado, Fines and Fiñana.
The way from Guadix to Baza is spectacular too, as well as the old path from Granada to Guadix.
This is a magical journey, especially if we neglect the A-92 and take the old road GR-3201 to Sierra Nevada, a narrow country road, winding but in good condition through landscapes that seem characteristic of Tibet or, as said of Colorado. The route is Granada, Cenes Vega, Quéntar, La Peza, Purullena and Guadix, and after an hour and a half by car you will be eternally grateful to this travel guide.
History and Legends
The Cascamorras has a remote origin around the year 1490, when the city of Baza, recently conquered by Christian troops, began the work on the Iglesia de La Merced.According to tradition, an accitano (Guadix) mason named Juan Pedernal while working was surprised to hear that from the inside of a hollow where he was banging, came a sweet, pitiful voice saying, Have Mercy! He was astonished to find that there was a beautiful image of a Virgin, which had a small scratch on Her cheek caused by the pick of the worker. The image became known since then as Nuestra Señora de la Piedad (Our Lady of Mercy).
The fact that the Virgin was found by an accitano in Baza, led to a long fight between the two cities, both claiming their rights to the image. The dispute was finally resolved by granting to Baza ownership of the image and to Guadix the privilege to dedicate to Our Lady a religious festival on September 8 every year, which is still celebrated today. Thus was created a Brotherhood, origin of the tradition of the Cascamorras, to which the accitanos unite every year so as to celebrate the feast of the Virgin of Mercy, which by right corresponds to them.
According to tradition, this being the most popularly accepted version, the first Cascamorras was Juan Pedernal himself, the accitano worker who found the image and said to have returned to Baza with the intention of recovering the Virgin, which did not please those from Baza, being forced to return to Guadix, where he was again reprimanded for not having achieved his objectives. However, it appears that the first Cascamorras was the buffoon that accompanied the civil and ecclesiastical councils of Guadix, who came to Baza to celebrate the religious function which was their right.
Annually, every September 6, for more than five hundred years, this tradition is celebrated in which, in a bloodless act and full of emotion, the Cascamorras is received by the Bastetanos with paint to prevent him from arriving clean and tidy at the Iglesia de la Merced, from his departure from Las Arrodeas, to the Iglesia de la Merced, being a journey of some 5 km, as tradition says that if the Cascamorras manages to get to the Iglesia de La Merced still clean, Guadix may take the image of the Virgin.
Evolution after 500 years
The tradition of this event is based on the famous character, accompanied by a drummer and a delegation, who emulating the early years of the celebration, arrives from Guadix at Baza to take away the image of the Virgin of Mercy. If he can get to the La Merced convent clean, that is, unpainted, he can achieve his goal. In his attempt, he will be prevented by the Bastetanos who accompany him on the route from the village entrance to the Iglesia de la Merced (Church of Mercy), staining him with paints, ochre or used oil. The "Cascamorras" returns to Guadix without the precious statue and in payment for his failure, the accitanos paint and stain him again using water paints, ochre, etc...The festival of Cascamorras has changed over the centuries, abandoning the idea of a marginal and fanciful envoy earned in its first years. Now, to represent the accitanos (Guadix) has become a luxury, a pride and a satisfaction with waiting lists and selection of candidates.
The profile of the Cascamorras began to change in the nineties, with the surge of young accitanos presenting their candidacy because of a promise or devotion. In former years, it was a job like any other which you did because you were paid. The requests from the public that are still made now meant a wage.
Now, it is almost unthinkable that a person wears the multicolour suit two years in a row, because being the Cascamorras requires training, discipline and a lot of feeling.
This year the Cascamorras arrives at Guadix on Sunday at six pm, reuniting thousands of devotees of the Lady of Baza. He hasn’t earned it, or wanted it, but the reception he receives after his defeat will taste like victory. And it will be repeated next year, because the festival is important, because of the union of two cities and the love of their ancestral traditions
After the Cascamorras, Baza starts its festivities in honour of the Virgen de la Piedad.
