The orchestra Los Satélites and the charangas Ardores and KM Cero will perform on the day of the Feira do Cocido, Sunday 23 February, from 6 p.m. in the Praza da Igrexa.
The Mayor of Lalín has just announced two new personalities to join the list of Comendadores del Cocido who will join the Order this year, with the commitment to disseminate, protect and support the Cocido Fair and the Cocido de Lalín dish: Francisco Conde López and Acisclo Manzano.
These two new Commanders join those already announced: Takahiro Nakamae - ambassador of Japan in Spain and town crier of the 57th Fair; Teresa Portela; the president of the Provincial Council, Luis López Diéguez; the president of the RC Celta, Marián Mouriño; the president and vice-president of the group Prensa Ibérica, Javier Moll de Miguel and Arantza Sarasola Ormazabal; the deputy mayor of Lalín City Council, Paz Pérez Asorey and the president of the Galician Parliament, Miguel Ángel Santalices Vieira.
Thus, with Francisco Conde and Acisclo Manzano, the list of figures that this year will swear or promise their position as Commander next Sunday, 23 February, the day of the 57th Feria del Cocido, a date that also coincides with another double celebration such as the birth of Rosalía de Castro and Laxeiro, comes to an end.
Francisco Conde López, born in Monforte de Lemos in 1968, holds a degree in Economics and Business Studies from the Complutense University of Madrid and a PhD in Economics and Business Studies from the same university. He was Professor of Applied Economics at the CEU San Pablo University between 1995 and 2009, where he held various positions such as Secretary of the University Institute of European Studies; Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies; Director of International Relations and Vice-Rector of International Relations.
From April 2009 to December 2012 he served as advisor to the Cabinet of the President of the Xunta de Galicia. In December 2012 he was appointed Regional Minister of Economy and Industry of the Xunta de Galicia, a responsibility he held until October 2015 when he added more responsibilities as Regional Minister of Economy, Employment and Industry, a position he held from October 2015 to September 2020, when he was appointed Second Vice-President and Regional Minister of Economy, Enterprise and Innovation of the Xunta de Galicia until May 2022.
In May 2002 he was appointed First Vice-President and Regional Minister of Economy, Industry and Innovation of the Xunta de Galicia, responsibilities he held until June 2023.
From September 2016 to August 2023 he was also a member of the Galician Parliament and currently, since August 2023, he has been a member of the Congress of Deputies and chairman of the Joint Committee for the European Union as well as spokesman for Industry of the Popular Parliamentary Group.
Acisclo Manzano Freire was born in Ourense, next to the Burgas in 1940. He showed an interest in sculpture from a very early age. Today Acisclo is one of the most recognised figures of contemporary sculpture in Galicia and Spain. He began his training at the Escuela de Formación Profesional and the Escuela de Artes y Oficios in Ourense, later continuing his apprenticeship in Santiago de Compostela with Jose Liste. From his first commissioned works, Christs and wooden figures, he shows a clear tendency towards formal innovation.
He was part of the initial group of O Volter and also of Siete artistas gallegos and for sixty years he exhibited his work in Galicia and in large cities in Europe and America. He holds an honours degree from the Sánchez Cantón Secondary School in Pontevedra. Recognised by critics and historians, he received numerous awards, such as the National Sculpture Prize in 1962 and 1968.
His sculpture moves aesthetically within the figurative universe, although at some points in his career he came close to the territory of abstraction. A full member of the Galician Royal Academy of Fine Arts, he is also Medalla de Ouro of the Province of Ourense.
It should be noted that Acisclo is also the author of the poster of this 57th Cocido Fair. He recently donated to the City Council of Lalín the work ‘Peregrina de Deza’, one of the most emblematic pieces of his exhibition ‘Caminantes por la Vía de la Plata’; it is a large sculpture that is exhibited in the entrance hall of the City Council. He is also the author of the Venus de Deza which can be seen in one of the roundabouts at the entrance to Lalín.
Musical performances on the afternoon of the Feira do Cocido
As usual, the programme of events on the big day of the Fair will open at around 10.30 am in the Town Hall with the reception of the town crier, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Spain, Takahiro Nakamae and the authorities, followed by the General Chapter of the Encomenda del Cocido in which the ten aforementioned personalities will swear or promise their office.
This will be followed by the signing of the proclamation in the Book of Honours and the printing of the hands in the corresponding mould. At around 12 o'clock the Fair will open and the Cocido marquee will be visited in the Campo de la Feria to start at 12.45 h. approx. with the proclamation of the 57th Feria del Cocido by the Japanese ambassador in Spain.
This will be followed by the Cocido parade made up of the following groups: Asociación Cultural Carballo da Manteiga; Cabezudos de Laxeiro; Carroza don Cocho; Banda de Gaitas Os Dezas de Moneixas; ‘Lalaína’ a porca filla do ‘Queitano’; Carroza Cabaleiros de Lalín; Don Cocho; Comparsa Miúdos de Arcade; Comparsa Os da Caña de Marín; Cooperativa Gandeira de Botos float; Comparsa Luces de Tomiño; Comparsa Os Remolóns de Vilagarcía; Carroza do Grupo de Baile A Carballeira de Cercio; Grupo de Gaitas e Danzas Santiago Apóstol de Pamplona; Comparsa Cor Café de Pontevedra e Xenerais da Ulla.
The charanga Verbeneros will entertain the festival in the morning, with a parade through the streets from 10.30 a.m. In the afternoon, the councillor for Festivities, José Cuñarro, announces that there will be a performance by the orchestra Los Satélites and the charangas Ardores and KM Cero, in the Plaza de la Iglesia from 6 p.m. onwards.
