Paso del Fuego and Móndidas
Paso del Fuego and Mondidas is an event with a lot of adrenaline that occurs on June 23 in the town of San Pedro in Soria, Spain, which consists of an initiation ritual around a purifying bonfire where the assistants manage to achieve immortality.
Main image: FRANRUMAR - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
What does the festival of Paso del Fuego and Mondidas consist of?
This festivity takes place on June 23 at the hermitage of Virgen de la Peña. In this place every year, thousands of people gather to attend a very old ritual, which is celebrated before twelve and which aims to ensure that all attendees achieve immortality by trying to pierce a purifying bonfire.
It is a moment of great adrenaline, where participants must cross the bonfire alone or carry another person behind them with bare feet. It is a ritual that requires a lot of skill, concentration and where the person seems to be in a trance state so that the skin is not a victim of the suffocating heat and the burning embers of the fire.
The day after this traditional event, three young ladies are chosen, the so-called Mondidas, who wearing typical costumes will be the protagonists of the events that will take place during that day. It is a festival of National Tourist Interest.
What can you do if you visit the town of San Pedro Manrique?
If you want to live a real adventure, then be sure to visit the so-called Icnitas Route. There you will see numerous sites, a large space where the footprints of different types of dinosaurs are exhibited. Likewise, take a tour of the visitor center, which includes the Leisure Park and the Paleontological Classroom.
The gastronomy of this region is very varied. The traditional cuisine of San Pedro Manrique offers visitors exquisite dishes such as beef sirloin, succulent paellas and a wide variety of meat, stews, broths, etc., to taste the most demanding palate.
Curiosities of this festivity
It is curious how this festivity is one of the many celebrated each year in Spain, which presents such a feat and to a certain extent a little risk, which is why it can only be carried out by really trained people.
The technique to avoid burning represents a mystery, however, according to tradition it is believed that everything is the product of a miracle or type of protection from the "Virgen de la Peña".
