In Cuenca for the Festival of San Mateo
If you, expat Madrileño, find yourself jamoned out, tired of the Gran Via traffic and hearing snippets of English near Sol, I recommend fleeing typical affairs for a day. And if you find yourself bored in Central Spain around the Ides of September, I have just the day trip in mind. Located about two hours outside the bustling center of Madrid proper is the small, the quaint, the fearless: Cuenca. A city which, thanks to a recent boon to the tourism industry, delivers traveler after traveler to their Casas Colegadas, or “Hanging houses,” which sit high above the hilltop and beckon both curiosity and a humble sort of awe.
But aside from this, a quaint central plaza, and a lackluster museum of modern art, there is something magical to be found in Cuenca right in the summer’s dying breath: La Fiesta de San Mateo or, in English, The Festival of San Mateo.
Cuenca right before the Running of the Bull
As the town boasts just about 10,000 residents, there is nothing about the San Mateo Festival, Cuenca, that feels like the sort of famous events that Spain is known for (think: La Tomatina, the running of the Bulls in Pamplona, etc). However, what this fete will deliver is a weekend long party, put on by a boisterous cadre of locals, who have spilled out of their little town and into the old city up the hill for a 72 hour extravaganza. The tent-pole of the event revolves around the local penas, arrangements of groups into teams who sport matching T-shirts and partyinh attitudes, marching into the plaza with boisterous singing and dancing to the beat of drums or souped-up car stereos. Each one is given a a home-base from where they imbibe alcohol and snacks all day and all night. One can find evidence of this all over town in the empty bottles of Sangria and Tinto de Verano littering the cobblestoned street.
It must be noted that Cuenca’s San Mateo Festival is NOT an overtly touristy celebration. In fact, non-locals tend to stick out like sore thumbs here, with their lack of matching shirts and wine-dribbled chins. I certainly did. However, it’s worth a scope out for a true authentic travel experience, and the ultimate challenge of grabbing a pint of vino and trying to fit in among the cheery, leery masses.
The main event of the weekend is known locally as the “vaca” event, or a mini-scaled running of the bulls. In this hot-blooded celebration, a bull is released into the main plaza amid the crowded and the noise, and runs from tip to tip of the old city, trampling and terrifying locals and brave boys who try to stare the bull down. When the bull drinks water from the plaza’s fountain, Vaca is given a cheer and a dance. When he nearly gores a local son, not so much. But life goes on, and by 8pm the penas are in full force. Barbequing dinner, gulping cerveza and celebrating the fact that everyone still has their lives in their hands. Party on Cuenca. Let the Festival of San Mateo carry on into this century and next, bringing on Autumn as it comes.
In Cuenca for the Festival of San Mateo was originally published on Nicnapkin
