Lawton Idiomas Blog

In Britain, we associate bonfires with November 5th – “Remember, remember the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot”. Guy Fawkes Night = bonfires and fireworks.

In Spain, bonfires are lit on the night of 23rd June – San Juan. In Alicante it’s a really big celebration. In other parts of Spain, bonfires are lit that night celebrating the longest day and the shortest night. For many it means the start of summer and holidays!

In Llanes, in the east of Asturias, there are many ‘Hogueras’ throughout the year, but mostly in summertime. La Hoguera is the name given to one of the central acts in village ‘fiestas’. The idea is to ‘plant’ a euculyptus tree in a tiny hole in the middle of the village, a clever but difficult task.

Tree hunters have previously spotted their village’s tree in the local woods and in the early morning of the ‘Big Day’ of the fiestas, reinforced with garlic soup and ‘fire water’, the youths – and not so young – go out to cut the tree and bring it back to the village. The night before, the Hoguera from the previous year is removed. Like the ‘planting’ of the new mast, the operation requires great caution and intelligence as the site is usually amongst houses and care has to be taken not to damage dwellings, telephone and electricity lines.

Great rivalry exists between villages: Balmorí, for example, chooses it tree not only for its height, but for it thickness as well. Other villages choose the highest tree possible. All add the Asturian and, sometimes, the Spanish, flag(s) to the top of the trunk.

No matter what the Hoguera is like, its positioning requires years of experience. The hole has to be prepared carefully and the act of hoisting the mast is a spectacle of ropes, wedges, pulling and pushing, all accompanied by girls singing in local LLanes style costumes. The base of the trunk has to be hammered and fixed into position so that it’s straight and won’t move once the hoisting is over! Windproof! Untying the ropes offers another treat. In Pancar, for example, someone wearing special telegraph crampons, climbs up the trunk and releases the ropes.

As well as the Hoguera, in LLanes no ‘fiesta’ would be complete without lots of loud – really loud at times, explosions – ‘voladores’.