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EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO

META–SPANISH EFEMERIDES
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

Before it became what we know today, Entroido was a threshold.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Entroido comes from the Latin introitus, meaning "entrance." Its origins lie in ancient pagan rituals that marked the end of winter and the arrival of spring.Over time, Christianity adapted these rituals to its own calendar, placing Entroido in the days before Lent, where it came to signify the entry into the Lenten period.

It's one of the most important celebrations in Galicia, and each place where it is celebrated has its own distinctive characters.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 3)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

In Xinzo de Limia, Entroido lasts longer than anywhere else. Five weeks of celebration make it the longest carnival in Spain, a time when the usual sense of order begins to loosen.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Its central figures are the Pantallas: masked guardians of a peculiar authority. Dressed in white, with red or black capes and masks crowned with colorful crests, they roam the streets ringing cowbells and striking inflated bladders. Their sound is unmistakable—metallic, rhythmic, impossible to ignore.

The festivities unfold in stages. Domingo Fareleiro opens with a battle of flour that turns the town into a white cloud, erasing faces and identities in a collective reset. A week later, Domingo Oleiro replaces flour with clay pots passed and thrown from hand to hand, testing balance, attention, and trust. What breaks returns to the ground; what endures is briefly celebrated.

The cycle continues with Domingo Corredoiro, the moment when the Pantallas first take over the streets, announcing the arrival of the main week. The intensity peaks on Domingo de Entroido and reaches its climax on Shrove Tuesday, the biggest day of all, when a grand parade of floats and troupes fills the town. Finally, Domingo de Piñata brings the carnival to a close, sealing the end of Entroido and restoring the rhythm of ordinary time.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

Domingo Fareleiro

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

Domingo Oleiro

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 3)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

In Pontevedra, Entroido found its most unlikely symbol in a parrot. Ravachol, a real bird who lived in la farmacia de Don Perfecto at the turn of the 20th century, became famous for his irreverent language and sharp mimicry of human voices. When he died in 1913, the city gave him a funeral, mourning him as one mourns a collective conscience.

Each year, his effigy is is carried through the streets and buried once again, sealing the moment when laughter, mockery, and unrestrained speech must give way to silence.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Presentation of the first loro Ravachol in 1985

In 1937, the Franco regime officially banned Carnival, considering it a dangerous celebration rooted in paganism, satire, and social inversion. The prohibition lasted throughout the dictatorship, silencing public festivities for four decades. While cities erased it from public life, in rural Galicia the Entroido survived quietly: masks, songs, and rituals persisted in villages like Laza, Xinzo, and Verín, passed on despite surveillance and fear.

After Franco’s death, Carnival was legalized again in 1977. Galicia undertook a conscious effort to recover what had nearly been lost, rebuilding traditions through memory, archives, and collective will. Today, the Entroido stands stronger than ever—proof that neither censorship nor time can erase a tradition deeply rooted in a people’s identity.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Satire runs deep in Entroido. Its noise, its masks, its madness—once used to speak truths that silence kept the rest of the year.

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 3)
GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 4)

These are some of the main personajes of Galician Entroido

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

Merdeiro de vigo

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Felos de Maceda

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 3)

Vellaróns de Castrelo de Cima

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 4)

Vergalleiro de Sarreaus

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

Cigarrón de Verín

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Peliqueiro de Laza

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 3)

Pantallas de Xinzo de Limia

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 4)

Volantes Ribeira Sacra

A mask does not hide—it transforms. In carnival, covering the face means shedding identity, loosening rules, and allowing something else to emerge. At GOSPEL ESTUDIOS, masks inspire us not only for what they are, but for what they allow us to become.

Discover our MASCARA SISTEMA

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

Castro de Laza, Ourense

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 1)

Oimbra, Ourense

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

A Xironda, Ourense

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 3)

A Teixeira, Ourense

GOSPEL ESTUDIOS: EFEMÉRIDES: O ENTROIDO GALEGO (Fig. 2)

The different parts of the Peliqueiro costume

«Hoxe nesa zona é un día de reinicio. É como se empezara o ano. É un día de limpeza, de desafogarse e botar todo fóra» O Entroido alí é o psicólogo da xente. Desfrutas, borras todo e volves iniciarte. Te libera de todo. Poste perdido de fariña, pero en realidade é como unha limpeza. É moi liberador»