Erizada/Sea Urchin Festival

I realize it’s been quite some time since my last blog entry.  At least longer than I had intended.  And the reason for a prolonged gap in posts?  Well, I vowed in my blog mission statement that I would be honest in writing my entries, warts and all, and the truth is … I’ve been partying.  Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone (Mom and Dad, you know I just want you to be proud), as it’s generally a well known fact that the Spanish love to party.  And I’m here to verify that the generalization is TRUE!  When I came to Spain I had set two specific goals for myself:  1) to learn to speak the Spanish language and 2) to partake in the Spanish culture.  And while I’m working, diligently, on goal number 1, I’ve found I’m having a much easier time going about realizing goal number 2.  Here’s an example:

Two Sundays ago I woke after a late night party at my apartment complex and decided I really should enjoy the beautiful sunny day, the first we had in a while, rather than sleep-in.  And so, I went out on a 'paseo' (walk).  After enjoying my weekly churros and chocolate at a leisurely noon-time breakfast, I found myself meandering down to the market plaza and stumbled upon the scene depicted here:

Suddenly I’m reminded that my dear friend and all-around American-in-Spain/UCA guru, Emily, to whom I’m forever indebted for introducing me to this magical place, told me about the sea urchin festival which was supposed to happen in Cádiz this week.  Festival is right -- these guys aren’t fooling around.  By the time I make it back to San Antonio Plaza, the larger of the two plazas that bookend my street, people are starting to congregate, casually standing in line somewhere in the vicinity of the beer tent located in the middle of the square.  At 12:45 p.m. on a Sunday!  I mean, church just barely ended and there are probably 500 people already in the square, waiting for the festivities to begin.  I later learned that 'Erizada,' or the Sea Urchin Festival, marks the beginning of Cádiz’s preparations for Carnaval, the biggest celebration of its kind in Spain and a main attraction for many tourists near the end of winter/beginning of Spring.  Erizada is a party just for the people of Cádiz, where people from all classes and ages come out to enjoy the celebration.  It’s a time when you can meet with your fellow neighbors, enjoy the free, raw seafood (including sea urchins) provided by various local sponsors, drink (alcohol) freely in the streets and just enjoy the fantastic heritage of this beautiful seaside city.

Another extremely important aspect of Erizada is that it marks the beginning of the 'concursos' -- the singing competitions that determine which specific groups are allowed permits to perform at various locations throughout the city during Carnaval.  This kind of singing competition is like one I’ve never seen.  It puts the likes of U.S. talent shows such as American Idol to shame.  Emily later explained to me that, historically, Carnaval is the one time during the year when Spaniards are allowed to come out into the public and vent their frustrations with the current royal aristocracy, government officials, city authorities, or any other groups or issues of the day with which they really have an ax to grind.  Back in the day, it was thought that if a “good” ruler was prudent, he and/or she would allow for this festival once a year, when everything is turned upside down (the poor are encouraged to dress-up as and mock the rich, and the rich are subjected to their ridicule) in order to provide an outlet that allows for peace and order the rest of the year.  Kind of makes sense to me, but there’s more of my thoughts and observations on Carnaval to come in later postings.

Just to give you a taste of what I am talking about concerning the concursos, this photo is of the first group to perform, and this was probably their eleventh song out of about a dozen performed in San Antonio Plaza.  This group wants to make it to the final round -- to be able to perform at Carnaval -- and they want it bad.  And might I just mention, during every single song the 'cantantes' gesticulated just as you see here.  It’s like every single member is an actor, singing on his own stage.  Entertaining, indeed.

Oh, and after meeting up with my friends in the plaza at around 1:00 p.m. and spending the next seven hours walking the streets, drinking local Manzanilla and eating Spanish 'tortilla bocadillos' (a potato omelet served on a toasted baguette, something I never dreamed I’d say is really quite delicious), with a 'descanso' (nap) on the beach sometime in the middle, at 8:00 p.m. it was time for me to call it a night.  I had the late night party the night before, remember?

It’s good to be the fool in Cádiz.