When giants walk

Pamplona became one city on 8 September 1423 when King Charles III, the Noble, got fed up with the three adjacent towns fighting and pushed them together. Yesterday was the annual celebration of the event – perhaps with the added spice that Charles died on the same day exactly 600 years ago.

Whenever Pamplona celebrates, the Gigantes come out. Huge paper mache figures each with their own name and personality shouted out by the crowd as they pass. The Gigantes are accompanied by the kilikis who are dressed as horses and run about hitting the Gigantes and the crowd – much to the terror and delight of young kids. The kilikis’ weapon of choice is what was once a pigs bladder inflated and attached to a stick, like a soft mace, but which has now been updated to a foam ball in place of the bladder. Then there are the Cabezudos who have big heads, are medium-sized, and are friendly. It’s a riot of colour and activity that’s probably been happening roughly the same way for most of the last 600 years.

On top of all that, yesterday, there was folk dancing which largely features white kilts and floral hats as well as wooden swords (exactly the same as the folk dancing I was taught in school in the Isle of Man – the wooden swords, not the hats or kilts).

It was a joyous celebratation especially because there were so many kids running about enjoying being terrified by the kilikis. The crowd was enormous, but my enjoyment was also increased by the fact I have a good few inches of height on the average Spanish crowd, allowing me to see over the top.