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The Bear of Salcedo

A Pobra do Brollón, Terra de Lemos, Lugo

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The Bear of Salcedo

Curiosity · A Pobra do Brollón, Terra de Lemos, Lugo

The Bear of Salcedo

O Oso de Salcedo is the central mask of the entroido of this parish of A Pobra do Brollón, which in February parades through the hamlet amid costumed troupes and carrilana cart contests, re-enacting the moment when the bear emerges from its den after hibernation, a symbol of the farming cycle and of abundant harvests. A local man disguised in animal skins roams the streets with his servants, frightening passers-by whose bellies he tries to smear with his soot-covered paws; unlike other masks of the Galician entroido, he acts alone, like the peliqueiros of Laza. It is the only masquerade of its kind in Galicia, and since 2008 one of its costumes has formed part of the International Museum of the Mask and Carnival of Binche, in Belgium, a World Heritage town.

Photo: Amaigadameloquehaiga (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What to see and do in A Pobra do Brollón