Spanish views from a small town

Today is the 16th of July, and that means it's the celebration of the Virxe do Carme , or, the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel.  The story begins way back when, to end a drought, the prophet Elias promised God, that a local king, King Ajaab, and his people would abandon the praise of Baal. Every few days, Elias would visit Mount Carmel, and one day, he saw a small cloud the size of his palm that brought rain. After that, a shrine was created, and the Order of the Carmelites established. The Virgin Mary got implicated through a vision in the thirteenth century, to one of those Carmelite priests, Saint Simon Stock. In it, she held out a scapular, and said that whoever died wearing it, was promised eternal life in heaven. Simon Stock called this Virgin, Stella Maris , Star of the Seas, and mariners then took her as their patron saint. However, the implication was not of the physical sea, but of the spiritual sea. She was called that because the Virgin Mary was considered the North Star...

Today is the first Sunday in August. That means it's the Romería dos Milagros in my father's parish of O Araño, the pilgrimage of the Virgin of Miracles. I think that only in Spain does the Virgin Mary have just about every atribute. Virgin of Snows, Virgin of the Pilar, Virgin of the Miracles, Virgin of Carmel, Virgin of Guadelupe, Virgin of the Forlorn, Virgin of Mercies, Virgin of Heads, Virgin of the Oak, and the list goes on and on, passing through some very strange attributes (heads? really?).  More than anything, I assume that the Virgin Mary has taken on the names, attributions, and locations of ancient deities once venerated widely in certain areas. The spot where the chapel of the Virxe dos Milagros is in O Araño, is next to a pre-Roman hillfort, and may very well have had religious significance before Christianity came by.  Because the Virxe dos Milagros is not the patron saint of the parish. That's Santa Baia (Saint Eulalie), and her feast day is in Dec...

Pick a date on the calendar. Now, choose your poison. Today you have mussels in Rianxo, Albariño wine in Cambados, German sausages and beer in Sanxenxo, sardines in Teis, tortilla in Laro (Silleda), bonito in Burela, peppers in Arnoia, razor clams in Fisterra, horse mackerel in Chaín (Gondomar), roast pork ribs on a spit in San Clemente (Caldas de Reis), roast ham in Mondaríz, and octopus in O Carballiño. Apart from that, if you're not hungry, you have various different traditional, religious festivals that turn into musical nights in tons of different parishes. Then there is a medieval fair in Ferrol, the Cultural Week that ends today in Zas, a beach party in Ézaro, a motorcycle concentration in Vilagarcía, and the disembarkment of the Vikings in Catoira. And I know I'm missing stuff from the list, such as the book fair in A Coruña which I think is this week.  August is the month on which Spaniards have traditionally gone on vacation. There are still factories that turn thin...