Spirituality, history and queimada put the finishing touch to the celebration of July 25 in the Uruguayan capital
Queimada at the Patronato da Cultura Galega.
Spirituality, history and queimada closed July 25 in the Galician community that had begun with the children of the Galicia school singing the Galician anthem in the square on the banks of the Río de la Plata.
The Patronato da Cultura Galega received members and friends at the ‘luscofusco’ of Galicia Day, among them the delegate of the Xunta de Galicia, Elvira Domínguez, who was able to attend a large part of the dissertation by the Uruguayan-Galician sociologist, Rafael Rey , associate professor at the University of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, who has also lived in A Coruña and professes a long-distance connection to the land of his parents.
Rey detailed the origin of Galician Homeland Day, which dates back to 1919, when it was agreed in the II Nationalist Assembly of the Irmandades da Fala to celebrate it on that date, coinciding with the feast of Santiago Apóstol.
He noted that “throughout its history, Galician Homeland Day faced various difficulties, especially during the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and Franco, who prohibited its celebration.” He noted that “however, the Galicians managed to keep the commemoration alive through clandestine events and cultural meetings.”
He added that “with the arrival of democracy in Spain, the celebration became diversified and institutionalized. Various cultural activities, demonstrations and events seek to promote Galician identity and its culture, thus consolidating its meaning as a festival of the Galician nation.”
The party continued after the conference with the performance of the group of ‘cantareiras y pandereteiras’ O Son da Ruxidoira, directed by Lorena Beco, who culminated as meigas ‘enfeiticeiras’ who prepared, together with José Piñeiro, the president of the Board of Trustees, a queimada that It gave those present strength to return home on a freezing night in the Uruguayan capital.
The Brotherhood of the Apostle Santiago
On the night of the 25th in Montevideo, the mass was celebrated in honor of Santiago Apóstol in the San Pedro parish in the Buceo neighborhood, where pilgrims from the Uruguayan Association of Friends of the Camino de Santiago, chaired by Adriana Fernández, collaborated.
The history of this celebration in Montevideo dates back to 1952 when the Brotherhood of the Apostle Santiago carried it out together with the priest Fernando Fagalde.
Among the pipers who then accompanied the celebration, the presence of Celestino Pichel and his Pipers of Cotobade stood out, and among the patrons was Jesús Canabal, owner of the Ipusa company and founding partner of what twelve years later would be the Patronato da Cultura Galega.
As Fernández explained, “unfortunately, the lack of support caused the Brotherhood and the celebration to succumb in the 1970s,” but “three years ago, with the help of Father Daniel Martínez, the Association of Friends of the Camino de Santiago tried to return to “value this history.”
On Thursday it was the piper Carlos González (student of Celestino Pichel) and the Irmandade Bagpipe Band, instead of the Cotobade Pipers, who brought Galician sound to the church of San Pedro.
