Thursday, March 28

Saint George’s Day in Cáceres: a banner in the wind, Fratres knights and chicken hunters


The Councilor for Youth Paula Rodríguez has waved the banner from the balcony of the City Hall of Cáceres. / Armando Mendez

The city enjoys this Saturday a festive day in honor of the patron saint full of commemorative and solemn acts to remember its history

Cristina Nunez

Today he is the patron saint of the city, Saint George, and Cáceres dresses up for a party. Despite the fact that it was last Thursday night when the streets were bursting with people to see the parade and the burning of the dragon, today this apocryphal saint is honored to commemorate the reconquest of Alfonso XI in 1229. With changing weather (The day started out bright but the clouds and the wind have soon made an appearance) At ten minutes to twelve the members of the municipal corporation (except those of United We Can) milled around the Plaza Mayor. Together, accompanied by the Municipal Band and the Fraternal Association of San Jorge, they walked the few meters that separate the City Hall from the Santa María co-cathedral, where a mass was celebrated.

Afterwards, everyone has returned to the town hall, where the youngest councilor, the socialist Paula Rodríguez, mayor of Youth and Sports, 30 years old, has waved the banner of San Jorge for the second time. Rodríguez, who is expecting her first child next July, once again expressed her pride in being the one in charge of continuing this tradition. “It has been a very intense week and we are very excited,” she said shortly before the civic procession began. “It is an honor to be able to contribute to the traditions that help make the city of Cáceres what it is today.” She has taken advantage of the occasion to talk about the role of young people in politics and in society. «The fact that we prolong our youth, that at 30 or 40 years of age we continue to be young, is to prolong a precariousness to which we have succumbed, we must stop sending certain messages, it is not a question of continuing to be young at 35 or 40 years of age, there are still situations precarious for having been able to develop a model of life”, he estimated. The plenary hall of the City Council has welcomed the tribute that year after year is offered to retired municipal workers in the last year.

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The Fratres Knights Association have supported the celebration of the civic procession. /

ARMANDO MENDEZ

Despite the pandemic last year, the acts of San Jorge could be resumed, although today there were many more people around the Plaza and the Old Part, with numerous tourists watching the procession. Members of the Fraternal Association of Saint George also attended these events. For a few years they have been claiming that the celebration in honor of the patron saint has a deeper aspect and is not limited to the burning of the dragon. From them has come the initiative to carry out the proclamation. As explained by Inmaculada Hernández Paz, president of this association, for the next day 25 they have prepared an act in the Miralrío plaque where the Eucharist celebrated after the Reconquest of Cáceres is commemorated. The event has been held since 2019.

History

They looked like a tourist attraction, but no. Members of the Fratres de Cáceres association dressed for the occasion also came to support the civic procession. They recreate the order of knights predecessors of the order of Santiago “who in the twelfth century, after the conquest of the city, are entrusted with the custody of it, is the legend of the twelve knights who died besieged in the Tower of Bujaco». Today they also claimed the recovery of the patron saint’s party, as explained by its president, Vicente Santos.

Young people in search of the hidden chickens in the old part. /

ARMANDO MENDEZ

The hunt for chickens has also filled the Old Town with prize trackers. It is a tradition consisting of hiding these figures, which allude to the legend of the Mansaborá and that keep prizes. Specifically, two gold ones have been hidden, the ‘official’ ones from the City Council, with 200 euros each, and another seven sponsored by the Cáceres trade.


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