Autumn in Andalucia


The season is a-changing here in Andalucia: it's getting dark earlier, and the nights and early mornings are chilly now, though the days - the last few, at least - have been scorchingly hot 35; degrees or so.
In the field next to my house, they were picking the olives last week. It's only a small olivar, so they were doing it by hand - none of the shaking the trees so the olives fall into nets on the ground which you see in the bigger plots of land. The olives themselves are green - manzanilla variety - so it's quite hard to see them against the leaves, of the same colour.


At the weekend, it was the romeria of one of our local towns. On a swelteringly hot afternoon, we all climbed the Cerro de Santa Brigida, next to the hill where the Carambolo treasure was found. The view down to Seville was spectacular, especially the ever-rising Torre Pelli.
The saint, after whom the hill is named after, lived in her sanctuary on high until the arrival of Napoleon's troops, who knocked it down to build military defences. The statue was taken to a church in Camas, which she cohabits with the Nuestra SeƱora de la Candelaria. The romeria itself, taking the statue of the Santa Brigida up to the hill, has only been going since 2003.
When we reached the area of the romeria (not the very top, thankfully), people were gathered around their gypsy wagons, while the oxen rested after pulling their loads up the steep hill. The trilling sound of a flute filled the air, along with drums and guitar. A rustic sight, although Seville is just a few kms away.





You can also see my very amateur, shaky video of some people celebrating the Romeria de Santa Brigida - featuring traditional music, but no dancing I'm afraid.
Blog published on 8 October 2012