The Festival of San Isidro

While in Madrid, we had the privilege of celebrating the Festival of San Isidro. Google tells me that is the celebration of the city's bullfighting season. I didn't know exactly what we were celebrating, but it was much fun watching the way Madrilenans party!

On this day, the people of the city dress in the old traditional Spanish dress. Many of the women were wearing long dresses, white scarves on their heads, with a flower in their hair. A few had on shorter dresses, with a mantilla and flowers on their heads, and even fewer were wearing the Andalucian flamenco dresses.

The men wore traditional black-and-white checked jackets with a white or black boutonniere and a black-and-white cap. Even little children were dressed up for the day.

Much of the festival reminded me of the Riverfest here in Wichita. We went to the main area down near the river where the locals were gathering to picnic. There was a large flea market with a few food tents, but most of the people were bringing their own food. They would scatter around the park to eat, and since it is legal to drink on the streets, some were drinking beer. In Spain, however, it is considered to rude to walk around while eating, so no one was wandering the streets with drinks in hand. That limited litter and messiness, which I think would be nice for us to consider in the US.

I also noticed a distinct lack of port-a-potties or available restrooms. Don't Spaniards need to go to the bathroom? I have no idea where they went, and luckily we didn't need to find out!