MOMOTXORRO: The Wild Spirit of the Carnival
Our cover story this month pays homage to the wilderness and the ancient gatherings that celebrated the earth, the sun, and the cycles of nature — a reminder of our roots as an artificial intelligence world rapidly grows. In Alsasua, Navarra, the Momotxorro emerges: a bloodstained echo of ancestral pagan rituals.
Text Juanma Galán Photography JC Verona
Every year, in the Navarran town of Alsasua, an enigmatic and ancestral figure emerges: the Momotxorro. Covered in skins, crowned with bull's horns and with bloodstained clothes, this character seems to emerge from forgotten times. It is not a simple festive mask, but the echo of ancient pagan rituals linked to nature, fertility and the cycle of life.
Every Shrove Tuesday, the Momotxorros roam the streets of Alsasua in a frenetic dance to the rhythm of drums and txistus (flutes). With dizzying spins and the sound of their cowbells, they wake the earth and promote fertility. At the climax, they charge with their bloodstained wooden pitchfork and beat the ground, while chasing spectators in a whirlwind of debauchery and celebration.
The festival reaches its end in the town square, where the participants take off their masks and regain their human faces. As in an eternal cycle, order prevails over chaos, just as spring replaces winter.
Momotxorro
Carnival has been, since time immemorial, a space of transformation where norms are inverted and primal forces resurface. In this context, the Momotxorro embodies the connection with rituals that possibly date back to the Middle Ages or even to pre-Christian beliefs. His presence is reminiscent of mythological figures such as the Wild Man, present in various European cultures, and the Basajaun, the legendary lord of the forest in Basque mythology.
In the Burunda valley, in the foothills of the Urbasa-Andía Natural Park, carnival marks the end of winter. This tradition is linked to ancient agricultural rites, where human beings sought to integrate with the rhythms of nature through ceremonies of renewal and fertility. Furthermore, February in the Basque language, Otsaila, is known as the ‘Month of the Wolf’ in clear allusion to the Lupercalia, the Roman festivals in honour of the God Faun that were celebrated around this time. Luperco aka Lupus: Wolf + Hircus: billy goat, an animal that was always cursed. They invoked the protection of the herds and fertility. A period in which nature is at its peak of transformation, reinforcing the idea of the ancestral connection between man and his wild environment.
“ The name ‘Momotxorro’ comes from ‘mamu’ (ghost, entity) and ‘mozorro’ (costume), evoking the transformation that occurs on carnival night. It is also reminiscent of Momo, the Greek God of mockery, suggesting the chaos prior to the restoration of order.”
Since prehistoric times, the figure of the shaman has been present in various cultures. Similar representations can be found in the French caves of ‘Le Trois Frères’ and in ‘El Castillo’ in Cantabria. Like an echo of these atavistic images, the Momotxorro emerges from the mists of time to become the protagonist of the carnival of Alsasua.
Along with him, other characters make up the rich folklore of this celebration: the Maskaritas, covered with colorful bedspreads; the Akerra, a billy goat that leads the wooing of the Sorginak (witches); the Juantramposos, comic figures harassed by the crowd; the shepherds of the Ereintza, who drag the plow in an allegory of sowing; there are also coppersmiths and petty thieves with their tamed Bears/Hartzak and the Wedding, a burlesque representation of society.
The attire of the Momotxorro is unmistakable: blue denim trousers, white shirt, woollen socks, a white sheet stained with blood, an ipuruko or frontal covering his face, and from his back hangs the narru or skin that reaches almost to his ankles, a bull's head with horns and horsehair. On his back are bells that announce his presence, while in his hands he carries a wooden pitchfork with which he strikes the ground in the ‘Rite of Blood’, a symbolic gesture of renewal and fertility.
In the past, the Momotxorros chased young girls in a symbolic act of fertility, a component that has evolved over time. However, the essence of the ritual remains: chaos precedes the restoration of order. Since its revival in 1977, the Alsasua carnival has kept this tradition alive, making it one of the most impressive celebrations on the Basque festive calendar.
Declared a Festival of Cultural Tourist Interest in 2012, it ceased to be celebrated in 1916 and was revived in 1977 at the beginning of the Spanish transition to democracy. The Alsasua carnival is living testimony to how, deep in our collective memory, the call of the wild continues to resonate.
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