Smuggling

It takes place mid-morning on Saturday, after the Diana has finished and after having had a leisurely lunch with the group.

Despite being carried out by only two groups, the tenacity, perseverance and good work of both made it possible for it to become part of the official festival programme at the beginning of the 1980s.

The groups in dispute are Sailors and Smugglers. The Smugglers try to smuggle the contraband, which they carry in the saddlebags of their pack animals or in their carts, into the city, while the Sailors try to prevent them from doing so. The act takes place along the streets of Gomis and Mayans to the Plaza Mayor; the discussion ends with the Sailors in the castle and the Smugglers at the foot of it. During the parade, both groups fire their blunderbusses and arquebuses, with three stops, during which they exchange a few phrases and continue with the volleys. Finally, all the contraband is distributed among the public. The contraband goods they bring consist of trinkets, sweets, small toys and the typical "caliqueños" - cigars made by hand in a nearby region.

The text used is by an anonymous author; it is full of bravado and cockiness; all of it in a humorous tone. We know from a newspaper of the time that it was already being performed in 1871.