Cornella del Terri, Girona region
The Dance of the Horned Man!
On Good Friday, the people of Cornella del Terri cut down a tall pine and carry it back to the village, where horns are attached to it. Unique in Catalonia, the celebrations start on Good Friday when a group of men cut down the tallest poplar or aspen they can find in the area, trim, and carry to the square in the centre of the village.
This tree or ‘maig’ is decorated with animal horns and antlers on Easter Monday a little like a maypole.
Couples dressed in Catalan costume dance around it until “El Cornut,” the Horned Man, enters, dressed in red and wearing horns.
After a bit of horny dancing, he waltzes off hand in hand with one of the ladies. Quite bizarre.
It has been suggested that it is a celebration of the end of the all powerful dictatorships of the feudal lords in the Middle Ages. At that time these feudal lords dictated the fate, life and death of their tenants. One common and highly abusive privilege was their right to bed any girl on the night before her marriage! After long years of humiliation, in 1367, during the reign of King Pierre IV d’Aragon, Cornellà del Terri was freed from feudal domination and this ‘privilege’ was abolished. To celebrate, the people of Vilanova took to the streets to perform a series of dances that ended with the Ball del Cornut.
For sure, it is a fun way to welcome in spring and possibly a comment on fertility rites….