Bonfires of San Antón

Description

As in much of the province of Jaén, this festival is deeply rooted in Cabra, although it retains some distinctive features.

On the night before 17 January, the feast of San Antón, residents gather around the bonfires, and during the evening eat rosquillas and cured meats from the pig slaughter, drink wine from a wineskin or porrón, fire shotguns into the air, and young men jump over the bonfires, forming circles around the fire together with the young women.

In the days beforehand, countless "zagales" (young lads) can be seen around the streets carrying bundles of firewood, wood from old furniture, or large olive branches from pruning, stockpiling enough material to make their bonfire a worthy one, with flames reaching as high as possible — as they say around here, "burning San Antón's beard".

Although January days here are cold, the atmosphere it creates is very warm, with the haze produced by the smoke and the smell of burning wood taking over the whole town, encouraging the people of Cabra to celebrate and bid farewell to Christmas, since, as the saying goes, "until San Antón, it's still Christmas".