KING PÀIXERO

In the foothills of the Mariola mountains, at the southwestern border of the ancient Kingdom of Valencia, rises Biar (Upper Vinalopó), clustered under an important fortress of Almohade origin (XII century) that towers over the valley. Biar has preserved extraordinary signs of the past owing to its festivals, particulary the ones dedicated to the patron saint, the Virgin of Gracia, that take place in May and are realized in a single combat between Moors and Christians (with the La Mahoma figure and the Dance of the Spies), as well as the Festival of Saint Anthony where an exceptional figure acquires prominence: King Pàixero. It deals with one of the many transitory dignitaries who inhabited the medieval world, especially during the winter, dotted with working days dedicated to the momentary reversal of roles and values with the object of venting the social tension but also in order to confirm the established order.

“King Pàixero” of Biar is an adult and ephemeral king, crowned with an imitation gold leaf, with a white beard and his face dusted with flour (like a clown or a madman), dressed with a golden chain mail with the municipal coat of arms on his chest and the legend “claudo et aperio regnum” (I close and open the Kingdom). He wears white gloves, raises a flag with his left hand and salutes with the right hand, imitating the current monarchs. He is covered with a blue cloak with an ermine collar and, peculiarly, rides on a horse (in the past a donkey), certainly because of the festival´s links to the saint patron of the animals. This aspect confers him the features of King James the Conqueror, myth concerning the origin and birth of the Valencian people. On the eve of the festival he walks through the streets shouting “Vivas” towards Saint Antony. He is flanked by two hostlers with golden kettle hats, green chain mails with a crenellated edges as well as the royal coat of arms on the chest and on the instep of the boots. He is preceded by two dancers, also with white painted faces and the cheeks, nose and chin in vermillion, all of them accompanied by a cohort of about twenty torch carriers who clear the way and lighten the peculiar procession, while the neighbours light bonfires on the ground or in iron fire braziers and give a meal to the retinue (wine, herbero (a herbal liquor), pastries and fritter). The parade is repeated on the festival´s day, without torches and King Pàixero and his servers collect the donations of the population (gifts of food and beverages) and after having been shown and carried around, they are put up for auction in order to pay the festival while the domestic animals (nowadays mainly pets) are taken to the blessing. The dancers, called “bufones” (jesters), wear wide togas with four stripes and a short ermine cape, one of them with a blond wig on, the other dancer with a black one. They are repeating a dance in front of the king along the parade that consists of parallel and crossed routes, lifting their arms and opening their capes, imitating the flight of birds and end up with a reverence to the ephemeral authority.

Francesc Massip Bonet
University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona