LAS CAPEAS. SEGURA DE LEÓN

DETAILS

Denomination: Las Capeas

Place: Segura de León, Badajoz

Date: En torno al 14 de septiembre

Most interesting moments:

Religious acts in honour of the Christ of La Reja.

The arrival and departure of the animals along the streets of the town.

The animal tournament in the bullring.

Musical events and gastronomic displays.

How to get there: By the N-630 and A-66 to Segura de León in the south-west of Badajoz, or from Fuente de Cantos or Monesterio.

THE HISTORY

Many are the references to the Festival of Las Capeas in the town of Segura de León which, owing to its geographical location, always had vacas cerriles (wild cows), as they were called in the 16th century), or idle cows, referring to the cattle which were not employed for work and were used as entertainment.

With such a cattle breeding nature, it is easy to understand that, during the festival that the town holds in honour of the Christ of La Reja in the month of September, the residents fight a large number of beasts in the main square for the revelry and enjoyment of the people.

In the 18th century there was written evidence of these bullfighting celebrations in the main square of Segura and, in the municipal laws of 1877, in the reign of Alfonso XII, the most important aspects of the celebration of these feasts were regulated.

THE FESTIVAL

Around 14 September, as happened years ago in Segura de León, corresponding centuries back to the Order of Saint Mark of León, bullfights are held in honour of Christ of La Reja. For the occasion, the people of Segura close off the main streets to provide passage for the cattle; handed over for free by the farmers in the area; they are respected at every moment until they reach the peculiar bullring set up in the main square of the town.

This bullring, due to the shape in which it is constructed, reminds us of the other improvised popular bullrings which have been set up for this kind of festival since the Middle Ages; in the case of Segura de León, they have not had the misfortune of losing the custom.

The cows, not very pure retinto or berrenda breeds, reach the square. They are chosen on each day of the festival and then released so that young and old, residents and visitors, can run in front of them or try to exercise the noble art of bullfighting amid the elation and happiness of the thousands of spectators who, sitting in rustic stands and terraces, encourage others to enter the bullring.

Once the encounter is over, the horned animals return to their respective livestock farms, led by the youths as far as the roads out of the town, where the different stewards collect the cattle, each day the festival lasts, with religious acts around the Christ of La Reja which enjoy great devotion in and outside Segura de León.

At festivals such as this there are many musical events during the nights and, in the case of Segura de León, there is also a rich and varied gastronomy which, as in the whole region, is renowned for its pork products.