Canjáyar
The "chisco", its San Antón bonfire
The ritual
Burning the beard
of San Antón
On 17 January the calendar honours Saint Anthony Abbot — San Antón —, the hermit whom popular tradition holds as the protector of animals, and who is for that reason so beloved in country villages. In Alhama, the fiesta belongs to his eve: as night falls on 16 January, lumbres — bonfires — are lit in the open spaces of the village, and neighbours slowly gather around the fire.
The local expression says it all: on that night, people go out to "burn the beard of San Antón" — «quemar las barbas». Over the embers, bacon (tocino) is grilled, rosetas — good old popcorn — pass from hand to hand, and worn-out farm tools are symbolically thrown into the fire: what the year leaves behind goes up in flames.
It is the simplest fiesta in Alhama's calendar, and perhaps for that very reason one of the best loved: no programme, no stage, just the January cold, the burning fire and the neighbours' conversation. A winter purification rite that opens, year after year, the village's festive cycle.
16 Jan
eve of Saint Anthony Abbot's day
1
night of fire across the whole valley
3
gestures of the rite: fire, bacon, tools
A shared night
The villages
of fire
Alhama does not burn alone. On the same night, the fire of San Antón sweeps through much of the province: Canjáyar lights its "chisco", Níjar celebrates the "Día de los Chisperos", and in Abla, Abrucena and other villages of the Andarax valley, bonfires light up streets and open ground.
Each village keeps its own variant and its own name, but the gesture is the same: gathering around the fire on the coldest night of the year. So records the province's ethnographic calendar of festivals.
Níjar
The "Día de los Chisperos"
Abla
San Antón bonfires in the village
Abrucena
Fires in the streets the same night
Flavours of the night
Cooking over
the embers
The San Antón bonfire has its own menu, short and hearty: bacon grilled over the embers, bread and the rosetas that circulate from hand to hand while the fire crackles. It is winter cooking at its most elemental — the kind that tastes best outdoors and in good company.
For those who want to make a night of it, the path is easy: the pantry of the Andarax valley — mountain olive oil, almonds, Laujar wines — and the village tables round off the evening.
Practical information
Planning your visit
Dates
Around 16 January, the eve of San Antón's day · may move to the nearest weekend
Location
Alhama de Almería · open spaces of the village
Atmosphere
Family and neighbourhood spirit, around the fire · wrap up warm: it is the coldest night of the festive calendar
Source
Ethnographic festival calendar of the Diputación de Almería and local press (El Eco de Alhama)
Photographs: Kordas, medinamd · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA