The preparation

FROM MELON TO PAPER

Traditionally in every house we made lanterns for the pilgrimage. It was made from pumpkin, melon or from a small-sized watermelon and hung on a stalk. No matter the support, the same procedure was used to create the lantern. The internal pulp of the fruit was removed and once empty, some holes like small windows were drilled through the skin. So that after having placed a wax candle inside, a light shone from these small openings of diverse forms.
Nowadays, cucurbitaceae have mainly been substituted by carton and paper lanterns, although you can still notice a pumpkin in the pilgrimage every year. Many villagers choose to buy the lantern in the local hardware store, though the City Council organizes workshops at the end of August so that children from primary school can create their own lantern.

TORCHES AND ANCIENT FUSES

The use of torches made by esparto (formerly used to press olives and extract the oil from it) was reused over these last years. Indeed, there was a period of decline because of two factors: the suppression of the use of esparto in oil mills, because now the fiber of coconut palm is used instead; and the prohibition to walk with torches on the path to the hermitage, by prevention of the fires.

The process of making flare from esparto is simple and is made from elements that are traditionally cheap and accessible such as the rope of agave, esparto and a sewing needle. In order to encourage the resumption of the tradition of the bonfires night, the City Council provides esparto greased in some oil. During the summer, it promotes as well some workshops to make traditional flares.