TITLE: Carochos Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Spain
SUBREGION: Castilla y León
ETHNICITY: Spanish (Iberian)
DESCRIPTION: Carochos Mask
CATALOG ID: N/A
MAKER: N/A
CEREMONY: Fiesta del los Carochos
FUNCTION: Adult Initiation; Celebration; Protection/Purification; Secret Society
AGE: N/A
MAIN MATERIAL: cork
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A
The Fiesta de los Carochos is a tradition of the Zamora region of Spain, specifically the town of Riofrío de Aliste, where the festival is held every year around the winter solstice (between December 25 and January 6). The festival is organized by a group of young men who belong to a ritual society.
There are two carochos in leather masks, and ten other characters. One carocho (the Carocho Grande, or Big Carocho) wears a flat mask made of cork with large tusks (caneros), surrounded by hair and topped with horns, and he carries a giant pair of extendable pincers. On his head is a censor burning incense to createa trail of smoke. His costume is a hairy coat and leggings, with cowbells on his belt. The Carocho Chiquito (little Carocho) wears no mask, but his costume is covered in brambles, and he carries two lit pieces of cork to add more smoke. The other characters are the gallant, the madam and her child (the three of whom represent fertility and are supposed to keep the carochos under control); the drummer; the cerradon who carries a goatskin bag (cerrón) to hold the Christmas money; the linen man or poor man, who carries a shepherd’s crook and a load of flax; the blind man; the molacillo (little soldier) carrying a spear, who guides the blind man; the gypsy, who dresses outlandishly and carries a whip; and the filandorra (spinning woman), who wears colorful clothes and carries a spinning wheel.
During the festival, the streets are flooded with smoke from the carochos. After obtaining permission from the mayor and town priest to commence the ritual, they run through town screaming, and at each house, they request a Christmas donation (aguinaldo) of spicy sausage (chorizo). Meanwhile, the other characters perform a kind of dance-drama, getting into fights with each other, distributing sweets to children, and dancing.
The Museum’s collection does not include a representative Carocho mask, as only one is used in the festival.
