This was agreed at the meeting held at the Botos community centre, which was attended by the local councillors and residents of the parishes included in the organising parish area.
This traditional event linked to the Feira do Cocido will be held on Sunday, 25 January, at the Mouriscade mansion starting at 10:30 a.m., promoted by the Vía da Prata area, and in subsequent years it will be held on a rotating basis among the eight existing parish areas.
The working groups will be: one in charge of coordinating the tasks of the slaughter; another in charge of the traditional after-dinner activities; another in charge of the refurbishment work inside the mansion; another in charge of coordinating the craft work; and another in charge of distributing the typical products of the slaughter and desserts among the attending public.
There will be an ethnographic exhibition and an attempt to bake bread in the traditional oven located in an outbuilding attached to the farmhouse, among other attractions that are being finalised.
The ‘XXVI Matanza do Porco’, to be held on Sunday 25 January at the Mouriscade farmhouse, will be the first in history to be organised by a parish area: that of Vía da Prata. Therefore, the organisation will be carried out by the four parishes (Botos, Donsión, Vilanova and A Xesta) that make it up, although under the single name of Vía da Prata.
In this regard, the Councillor for Festivals and the area, José Cuñarro, emphasises that ‘we want to prioritise and raise the profile of the parish areas by celebrating the slaughter’ and points out that "although the mayors of the four aforementioned parishes (Luis Rodríguez Rozas, from Botos; Antonio Pereiro Estévez, from Donsión; Gumersindo Ferradás López from A Xesta and Manuel García Gómez from Vilanova) already held a preliminary meeting for each parish, on Friday, 2 January, at dusk, a general coordination meeting for the Matanza took place at the Botos social centre, attended by the four parish council leaders and residents of the Vía da Prata parish area who want to participate in the organisation of this traditional event".
Cuñarro explains that at this meeting, "the distribution of tasks for the celebration of the slaughter was established, with various working groups being set up: one will be responsible for coordinating all the different tasks involved in the slaughter (from the slaughter itself to the production of chorizo sausages); another will be responsible for the traditional after-dinner activities; another for the refurbishment work inside the farmhouse; another for coordinating the craft work (there will be blacksmiths, seamstresses, basket weavers, knife sharpeners, etc.); and finally, another group will be responsible for distributing the typical products of the slaughter and the traditional after-dinner activities among the attending public.
José Cuñarro points out that ‘more than a hundred people will collaborate in the preparation of the "Matanza Tradicional do Porco", which will be coordinated at all times by the village leaders, who will be in charge of the working groups mentioned above’.
The re-enactment of the traditional event will also feature an ethnographic exhibition, and there are plans to put the oven located in a shed next to the farmhouse into operation to bake bread, among other attractions that are currently being finalised.
Draw for the celebration by area
It should be noted that the decision to hold the "Matanza Tradicional do Porco" by parish area was agreed upon at the meeting held on 10 December between the government and the local councilors in order to decentralise activities to rural areas and bring services closer to the parishes. At that meeting, a draw was held for the areas of the slaughter, which was decided as follows: Vía ra Plata will organise it in 2026; Val do Arnego in 2027; Val do Deza in 2028; Entre Ríos in 2029; A Balouta in 2030; Alto de Vales in 2031; Val do Boi in 2032 and Carrio Sur in 2033.
Unanimous choice of venue
It should also be noted that the choice of venue for this 26th Matanza, the Mouriscade mansion, was decided unanimously at a meeting held on 13 December between the village leaders of Vía da Prata and the Councillor for Festivals and the area, José Cuñarro, as it was considered an ideal venue for this traditional event.
Economical kitchen and hearth in the same room
The mansion is an outstanding example of rural stately architecture in the municipality of Lalín, built of granite masonry and featuring functional elements such as balconies, external staircases and adjoining outbuildings for agricultural use: a granary, a chapel, an oven and a traditional village kitchen with a wood-burning stove and hearth in the same room, located on the first floor of the house. Having a wood-burning stove and hearth in the same space was a great convenience for farmhouses and their inhabitants, as they could prepare their daily meals on the wood-burning stove and cook all the products from the slaughter in the hearth during the months of December, January, February and March, until they were then also transferred to the kitchen.
This large house is an example of a noble house linked to a farm which, like other large houses of the time, served a dual purpose: residential as the main home of the owner family and productive as a centre for managing land and property. This property is currently owned by the municipality, along with other disused properties linked to the Mouriscade estate, since August 2024, when the Provincial Council transferred them to the Town Council, a procedure that was signed before a notary.
It is worth noting that this year marks two decades since the Matanza (slaughter) was held in the same place, organised by the parishes of Doade and Vilanova (in 2006).
Cuñarro emphasises that ‘we would like to invite all the parish areas and the town centre to come to Mouriscade on 25 January to collaborate and help with one of the most important and traditional tasks of all households, as it was traditionally a way of ensuring food for the whole year’. The celebration will begin at 10.30 a.m. and continue well into the afternoon.
