20
May
Fiestas de San Roque
Description
Tradition holds that in the 16th century, the people of Siles made a vow to the saints San Marcos and San Roque to build them a hermitage, having been freed from the bubonic plague through their intercession. Ever since, this event has been celebrated every year.
Between 10 and 16 August, Siles holds its main festivities in honour of its patron saint. The festival begins on the 10th, when the image of San Roque is brought in procession from his hermitage to the parish church, where religious services will be held in his honour every day. The saint returns to his hermitage on the 16th. The highlight of this week of festivities is the daily bull run, but the most notable is the one held on the eve of San Roque, when the last bull to run that day, known as “La vaca del agua de San Roque”, is not put down at the end of the event, but is instead taken to the hermitage to be sacrificed, amid the cries of residents who throw buckets of water at it shouting ¡agua! (water!), in an ancient rite of purification.
