Rapa das Bestas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rapas das Bestas in Sabuvedo 2009

Rapas das Bestas ( Galician for claws of the beasts ) is a centuries-old Galician custom that is celebrated in various villages in the first week of July. The horses living wild in the mountains are driven into the valley to be shorn and marked.

history

The rapas probably go back to almost two thousand year old customs of the Celts . The Greek scholar Strabo reported about Celtic customs in which the Celts “… use horns and primal screams to drive the beasts out of the mountains into the valleys. Some are sacrificed to be eaten. Others are tamed to use them for war and hunting ... ”According to another legend, the custom goes back to two Galician sisters who prayed to Saint Lorenzo during a plague epidemic and promised him to sacrifice a pair of horses if theirs Villages would be spared.

Known Rapas das Bestas

The best-known rapas take place next to Subucedo in A Valga , Torroña , Mougas , Morgadans , Amil (Ponteverda) , Barbanza , A Capelada and Candaoso . The male villagers, known as aloitadores (gal. For fighters ), go to the wild horses in the mountains in the morning to drive them into the village. They are led by the most experienced man, the so-called Bestilleiros . The horses are driven into the valley and gathered in the so-called curro , where the aloitadores catch them and shear their manes and tails . The young men and boys in particular stand out here. The owners mark their horses by cutting their mark into the fur, the previous practice of branding has now largely been abandoned. While the mares and foals are then driven back into the mountains, the stallions are often sold for meat. The events have a folk festival character and are often accompanied by tourists.

criticism

In addition to the stress caused by hunting and catching the animals, animal rights activists criticize the fact that mares and foals are often separated from each other in chaos and can no longer find each other. The gathering in the narrow Curra means great stress for the otherwise wild animals, which is also expressed in fights and fights between the horses. In addition, they could no longer defend themselves against insects by shearing their tails.

See also

Web links

Commons : Rapa das bestas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Spain's north: When Galicia's "beasts" are sheared - SPIEGEL ONLINE . Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Rapa das Bestas is the festival of the year for many - and a horror for animal rights activists: Galician rodeo . Berlin newspaper. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ David Sim: Wild Horses are Rounded Up and Sheared in Spain's Rapa das Bestas (Taming of the Beasts) . Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ “A Rapa das Bestas” / “Scheren der Stuten” . SOS Galgos. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  5. ↑ Please Help Stop “Rapa das Bestas” - The 400-Year-Old Horse Festival That Rounds Up Wild Horses For Torture - Collective Evolution . Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  6. ↑ The Rapa Das Bestas fighters try to take wild horses steaming through Spanish town in 400 year old festival . Daily Mail Online. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ Spanish Rapa Das Bestas festival where men GRAPPLE with wild horses . Daily Mail Online. Retrieved July 23, 2016.