May Rites in Lands of Madrid. Fragments of a Flowery Tradition

Abstract

The festivities of May build up an essential chapter in the territory of Madrid. Even though these are too weak, there are still some samples of this festive cycle, in which stands out the chants of May to the Holy Mary, which remains very alive in the south-east of the province. Another demonstrations from the recent years that were very popular, such as the “maya-dama”, have been lost with the pass of the time, being preserved with unusual and renewed strength in Colmenar Viejo. We review the state of the question to note that, after the generalized loss in the years after the Civil War (1936-39), the celebration of May has been maintained without big changes since the decade of the 90´s from the past century until today.