Basque ethnography at a glance

Stained glass window at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Old in Urduña (Bizkaia). Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

The devotion professed by the people of Urduña (Bizkaia) to the Virgin of Old dates from further back than the feast popularly known as ochomayos. It was on 8 May 1639 that the local council named her patroness of the town “forever and ever”. The day fell on a Sunday that year and was celebrated with “bullfighting, masquerading and fireworking”, hence the tradition, by vow, of annual celebrations featuring bulls, large-headed cabezudos and fireworks.

Notwithstanding minor variations over the years, the vow to the Virgin is still renewed. Every 8 May municipal authorities march in general procession to the sanctuary, the youngest councillor bearing the town banner, escorted by mace bearers and mayors of the villages of Ruzabal, armed with their ceremonial lances. Txistu players and buglers lead the way to the sound of a zortziko expressly composed for bench days —namely, 8 May and Coronation Day, on the first Sunday in September—. On such occasions the members of the corporation are granted the right to occupy several benches located by the main altar, inside the presbytery of the sanctuary.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Old in Urduña (Bizkaia). Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Another popular and much awaited moment occurs after mass, when the image of the Virgin is rotated for worshipers to climb behind the altar to her niche and kiss a medal pending from her cape. An aurresku before the authorities marks the culmination of events at the sanctuary.

We know that groups of dancers used to perform on 7 and 8 May back in the 18th century, but we do not know the nature of their dances, nor whether they were performed during the procession, inside the temple or after the service, as happens with entradillas dancing by neighbours from Arrastaria on 9 May.

The figure of Bihotza, byname given to a well-known local txistu player from the 19th century, is an abiding symbol of the festival. Indeed, the sound of the txistu played, and continues to play, a central role in the history of Urduña, more particularly during patron saint celebrations.

Procession of the municipal corporation. Urduña (Bizkaia), 2012. María José Fernández.

The end of the feasting follows, almost invariably, an established protocol, culminating, as is the case with so many other festivities, in the burning of the festive puppet, announced in old-time programmes of events with the chanting of the miserere:

Miserere, miserere,
que todo el mundo se entere,
miserere, miserere,
que Bihotza se nos muere.

(Miserere, miserere, / let everybody know, / miserere, miserere, / that Bihotza is passing away.)

But prior to that, a funeral cortège parades the streets of the town, accompanied by a brass band who alternates the cords of “La pasionaria”, a funerary march by José Franco, with livelier songs, because the countdown for next 8 May is already on. The burning of Bihotza takes place at the square, and until recently, the traditional ochomayos scarf worn around the neck would also be burnt. Among laments, the bravest youths jump into the fountain, and as a nod to the festival of St Fermin, the words of an adapted version of the pobre de mí ‘poor me’ sung in Pamplona fill the air:

Pobre de yo, pobre de yo,
que se acaban las fiestas de ochomayo.

(Poor me, poor me, / 8 May festivities are coming to an end.)

Koldo Ulibarri – UPV/EHU – Getxa Goi Txistu Group

Translated by Jaione Bilbao – Ethnography Department – Labayru Fundazioa

The foregoing bibliographic citations have been retrieved from the work Historia de Nuestra Señora de Urduña la Antigua [History of Our Lady of Old Urduña] by José Ignacio de Uriarte, Bilbao, 1883.

A previous post dedicated to the 9 May in Urduña (Bizkaia) might likewise be of interest.