MANILVA VENDIMIA SATURDAY 4TH.SEPTMBER 2010.

SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER 2010.

After breakfast we went for a walk around the village before the Vendimia got going; on the way back we stopped in at bar Rojas and had some lunch. Brenda had a rather special Chick Pea stew that Lumi had just made and I had Huevos fritos and Patata Fritos to keep us going !

In the early evening we made our way down to the Church of Santa Ana along with the whole village; they are all dressed in their finest with all the children in traditional costumes carrying their grapes in baskets and a lot of the ladies in their flamenco dresses, which is very colourful and adds to the occasion. The Santa Ana statue is carried aloft from the church after a mass and the ladies of the village choir performing a special song, and then the band led by Fernando starts to lead the procession as dusk falls; also in the procession are all the Feria Queens as well as the local dignitaries led by the deputy Mayor as Antonia is away on holiday in Brazil. In the band one of local friends from Bar Rojas,Paco is the drummer and is known by everybody as Ringo,not just for his drumming but because he wears a lot of rings ! The Santa Ana statue is paraded along Calle Mar,by now it is packed with people from the village and other villages and all the Bars and Sobrajos are already full, the canopy is lit with hundreds of small lights which add to the occasion as they turn around at the top of our street by the Town Hall and then make their way back towards the Old Town Hall were the second stage is ready for the children to bring up their bunch of grapes to be collected for later. They each receive little token of the day from the Council.

After the formal part of the occasion it then starts to get lively as the two bands start up and soon the crowds are singing and dancing; we had our first drink in Bar Rojas,we had planted our two glasses with straws and Lime slices with them earlier as all the Bars are using plastic cups only ! The band on the main stage at the top of our street are very good, they play Spanish pop music and soon the atmosphere is electric, the village is packed full and all the stalls and Bars do a roaring business as the night goes on, lower down at the entrance to the village is more for the younger party goers and has a very loud sound system belting out house music !

During the evening we went back to the house for supper, I had made a Beef stew which was just right and soon we were out again as we made our way along Calle Mar and called in to the Political party Sonbrajos; in the Council one which we have been given voucher’s for free drinks on Sunday by Mario the local councilor that lives just around the corner from us, we had drinks given to us from other councilors on Saturday night and more vouchers as well ! The ASM party is local and is led by our doctor,Emillo Lopez Berenguer who is also a friend on Facebook,they have free beer and give away all sorts of goodies,hats,fans etc, all in bright Orange ! The two main national Parties, the PSOE which are the conservative party in government and the PP who are the labour opposition also do the same, its local and national elections next May and we have the vote this time as we are now on the electoral register! On the way back to Bar Rojas we bumped into Mano’s friends Juan and Amelia and ended up having a drink in his family Sonbrajo before we ended up in Bar Rojas for a night cap. All this time the bands are playing at full blast and it goes on till around about 3-00am. as we made our way the few yards down our street to home !

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