Coca Festival
Redondela celebrates victory over the dragon
The young sailors of Redondela subdued the monster and celebrate every year with a colourful Dance of the Swords. Alongside them dance the penlas, girls dressed in white with small wings that represent the virgins, on the shoulders of the burras, women who symbolise mothers. The procession of the Virgin of A Gabacha, the carpets and the staging of the death of the coca attract thousands of people to Redondela to attend and participate in a festival that lasts from the night before Thursday of Corpus Christi until Sunday.
The dragon, which in medieval times symbolised evil, lived near Redondela, according to legend, specifically in the seas surrounding the island of San Simón. From time to time it would approach the town, destroying everything in its path and carrying off young girls. In the fiesta, the beast parades through the town on Corpus Christi Thursday, fleeing from the Virgin of A Gabacha, who marches in procession, under a shower of petals, through the streets covered in floral carpets.
The Virgin, whose image is taken at the beginning of the festival from the church of Vilavella to the church of Santiago escorted by the dancers, became the great protector of the neighbours against the attacks of the dragon. During the festivities, the death of the coca is followed by the Dance of the Swords, in which twenty men take part - the mestre, four abaelas or rabelos, four guides or primeiros, and a dozen dancers or swords - accompanied by the penlas. The choreographic ensemble dances to the sound of bagpipes and drums in the Casa da Torre square. Giants and big-heads also take part in the parades.
The beginnings of the festival date back to 1482, when the Thursday of Corpus Christi was declared a holy day throughout the Bishopric of Tui. The Town Council of Redondela and the guilds contributed images to the procession, but also dances and other representations. The one that would survive over time would be St. George's fight with the dragon, the coca. In Monçao, on the other side of the river Minho, it is also celebrated, with the particularity that in the Portuguese town the figure of Saint George is maintained, who confronts and defeats the monster. The first records of the Dance of the Swords in Redondela date back to the 16th century.
The image of the Virgin returns in procession to Vilavella on Friday after the events of the big day. On Saturday, the offering of flowers takes place in this church, and on Sunday, the Corpus Christi procession takes place in the neighbourhood, where the Dance of the Swords and the Penlas is held once again.
There are several theories about the origin of the name of the coca. Some historians place it in the Latin term cocatrix, which means crocodile. Documents from the 15th century attest to this, although earlier documents refer to it as 'coqueriz'. There is also the opinion that coca has its origin in the coconut or infantile monster, and other scholars relate the beast to the three-headed giant Cacus, son of Vulcan.
Only the head of the recreation of the coca that parades through the streets of Redondela is preserved as it appeared in the photographs of the 1920s. The figure of the creature has undergone several restorations and improvements throughout its existence. With regard to the carpets, since the 16th century there is evidence of the imposition of the authority to carpet the streets as the procession passes, although the floral carpets, so typical of the current Corpus Christi, are only known from 1950 onwards, initially made up of cattails and flowers scattered in the streets, with an artistic design from 1965 onwards.
The saying goes that there are three Thursdays a year that shine brighter than the sun: Maundy Thursday, Corpus Christi and Ascension Day. In Redondela the second cannot be understood without the Fiesta de la Coca.
