San Pantaleón

The festival of San Pantaleón is the town's main celebration, honoring its patron saint, and takes place on July 27 and 28. What makes this celebration special is the palpable sense of joy in the air; the town welcomes a large number of visitors, most of whom are natives who now live elsewhere.

Preparations begin well in advance. Long before the festivities arrive, residents paint their homes and deck the town out in its finest for the occasion. A series of religious observances—specifically novenas—in honor of the saint begins on July 18 and runs through July 26. A floral offering to the saint takes place during the religious service on July 25.

The festival's main day is July 27, when the principal religious events occur. The day begins with a musical parade through the town streets, accompanied by the local band and the firing of rockets along the route. At 12:00 PM, the Holy Eucharist is celebrated in honor of San Pantaleón; the church is often too small to accommodate all the faithful who attend. That same evening at 9:00 PM, amidst the ringing of bells and the sound of firecrackers, a group of over fifty *costaleros* (bearers) carries the statue of the saint—mounted on a ceremonial platform—through the town streets.

Roughly halfway through the procession, the bearers switch places. Throughout the procession route, rockets are launched—mostly representing *mandas* (vows or petitions) that people have made to the saint during the year and are fulfilling in this way—while the crowd shouts, "Long live Saint Pantaleon! Long live our patron saint! Long live blessed Saint Pantaleon!" Flower petals are scattered as the procession passes, and there is thunderous applause whenever the *costaleros* (the bearers carrying the float) perform the various lifts of the *paso*. After the procession concludes and the float returns to the church, the bearers and the faithful bid the saint farewell until the following year. Later that night, an open-air dance featuring two musical groups takes place in Constitution Square.
The following day, a street parade takes place, accompanied by a music band and the firing of rockets; at midday, a communal meal is held in this same square. Years ago, this meal—consisting of *migas* with sardines—was prepared by local residents, but nowadays the festival committee (responsible for organizing the event) hires a company to prepare a rice dish instead. In the afternoon, traditional games are held in "Plaza Padre Emilio" (including ribbon races on horseback and by bicycle, as well as climbing contests); finally, the festivities conclude at night in "Plaza Constitución" with an open-air dance featuring two musical groups.

There are two legends surrounding this saint: one concerns his blood, and the other relates to the theft of his statue during the Civil War.

The legend regarding his blood is as follows: a small portion of Saint Pantaleon's blood is preserved in a glass vial at the Royal Monastery of the Incarnation in Madrid. (In those times, individuals who performed religious miracles and were venerated by the public posed a problem for emperors and kings; the solution most rulers adopted was to fabricate charges against such a person, then arrest and torture them to death—which is precisely what happened to this saint. Consequently, people would collect and keep the martyr's blood spilled during his torture in small vials as relics to venerate him.) Throughout the year, the blood remains in a solid state, but on July 27th, it liquefies. Before the Civil War, the local church housed a vial containing the saint's blood, but that vial disappeared during the conflict. Another legend surrounding the image dates back to the Civil War: a group of men stole the statue and carried it away, but upon leaving the municipal boundaries of Bérchules, they noticed it had become heavier and they were unable to continue transporting it. They experimented by turning back slightly and realized the statue’s weight decreased; however, when they tried to resume their journey, the exact same thing happened—the statue became extremely heavy as soon as they left Bérchules. Concluding that the statue did not wish to leave the town, they decided to return it to its original place.