Rapa das bestas why

Each year, the Rapa das bestas festival in Sabucedo attracts more and more visitors on account of the spectacular, noble nature of this battle between man and beast.

The young men divide up into groups and head for the mountains in search of horses. When they find them, they surround them and drive them back to the village. Finally, they get them all together and begin cutting their manes. For this, two " aloitadores " the young men who do the cutting place themselves at the head of the animal, and one more at the tail.

First, one of those at the head tries to mount the horse while the one behind tries to imbalance it. Then, the second "aloitador" at the head tries to do the same, forcing the first one to get off.

These are the complicated manoeuvres used to cut the animal's hair in a real body-to-body fight. In Sabucedo, the mane cutting always took place in a stone enclosure "curro" in the centre of town.

Several years ago, it was moved to a new masonry "curro", where it is followed by a large crowd. The fame of the Rapa de Sabucedo, an ancient tradition with a strong ritual element, has attracted the attention of anthropologists and scholars from around the world. The festival is held under the protection of St. Lawrence — some of the wild horses belong to the saint, in other words, to the parish, and it is these horses whose manes are cut at the festival — to whom the town commends itself at the dawn mass on Saturday.

Locals and visitors then go out into the woodland areas, with provisions to keep up their strength, to look for the horses and lead them to the "curro". This is truly a unique tourist and ethnographic experience.

Highlight : Saturday expedition to the woodland with parish residents to gather the horses. The modern Rapa das Bestas takes place during three days, on the first weekend of July. During the Baixa , it is very normal to make a pause to eat some appetizers accompanied by a local wine, a beverage that is strongly connected to many aspects of the celebration. After many hours, the horses start arriving at around three or four in the afternoon.

The horses are then kept in a compound outside the village until the Curro takes place, at seven or eight that evening. A curro takes place every day during the three days this event lasts.