Life fits on a summer morning in Arriondas. That is why thousands of people come here every first Saturday of August after day 2, when the international descent of the Sella is celebrated – the Piraguas Festival in popular speech.
–¡Meca!And so much uniform?- A lady wondered when she passed through the town hall.
It’s half past eight in the morning. In the town hall square there are authorities, military, Civil Guard and the National Police. They wait for official breakfast.
-A more year!- Greet a man.
-A less year!- replies your friend.
Optimism and pessimism merge into a hug.
Adrián Barbón, president of the Principality of Asturias arrives.
-What did you lose esti Chaval …!- says a woman in what can be the first time in history that an Asturian of being grandmother commented on someone who had lost weight instead of highlighting weight gain.
The morning mixes the survivors of the previous night – the music ceased a couple of hours ago – with the hundreds of motorcycles, cars and buses that come to Arriondas from all over Asturias.
Two young girls manage excesses, sitting on a sidewalk, with their heads sunk between the knees.
-Look, 20 years ago we and I were-, says a couple of girls who pass and stop:
-Are you right? They ask.
-Yes, they answer.
-Well, then calm. Someday you will get up early to come. Look at us.
The morning progresses and the vests adorned with pins – from Cobi in a canoe, for example – and plates, the piconas monteries, the Hawaiian -inspired paper necklaces – as in Hawaii say they are of Asturian inspiration – they are being made with the streets of Arriondas. A lot of perfectly uniformed family.
Athletes, canoeists, are also appearing. Important not to confuse them with the “canoeing”, a term with which people from outside Asturias are known that come mainly by the nightlink.
In the Campoamor confectionery, the letter written by hand explains the morning:
“Beer 3 euros.
Return 3 euros.
Calimocho 4 euros.
Tinto summer 4 euros.
Cubata 6 euros.
Cafés 2 euros.
CAO 2 euros glue.
Puffer 2 euros ”.
There are up to three lines of people in front of the bar. The first thing in exhausting – temporarily – has been coffee, which is served in thermos.
-There, we don’t see each other since last year, in this same place- one girl to another tells him- How are you?
– Isn’t the palm tree?
In that half hour, the two friends who have just met again have updated. And they say goodbye.
It’s ten in the morning. Again on the street, the parade begins.
Pass the Band of Gaitas City of Oviedo.
Pass – a representation of the Asturian monarchy.
-Hey, there is some guard who is curious, huh?- says one lady to another. Curious, in Asturias, it also means being good to see.
A boy with a pink jersey of the eleven and a teka sink cap cross sidewalk to sidewalk.
-We always get where people cross, “a man says to her wife.
The speakers located in the streets of Arriondas are narrating the parade. A little like in the series that of Oliver and Benji, in which the plays were counted live.
-We are already for the river, please-, implore a girl.
-Do you want to relax a little, please? Another answer.
The god Cronos passes.
And a truck with music. Sonia and Selena’s song sounds. And when the part of “… when the heat arrives, the boys fall in love …”, everyone starts singing.
At 11.15, Sella’s banks are full of people. There are those who bathe. And there are those who leave cider boxes cooling in the water.
“This year there are more people than ever,” says a woman.
“You say there are more people than ever-, your companion replies.
-It’s that every year there are more people than ever, “she says.
For megafonía the May two marchfrom Hevia. And then, a retahíla of local businesses that sponsor the descent, a party declared of international tourist interest.
-But all these people go out at the same time? Asks a first -time girl.
(All these people are 1,304 athletes from 25 countries distributed in 901 vessels).
-Yes, your partner answers.
-And how are they fixed?
-Now you see it. You are going to freak out.
But before that girl sees him and Flipe – or not – a truly relevant fact will happen. At 11.41 a 19 -minute cycle will open in which the three Asturias They will coincide in space and time. The three songs that have earned the right to bring an article in front of the title or the name of their interpreter. The first Asturias will be the Asturias, by Victor Manuel. The second, the Asturias of Melendi. And the third, the Asturias Patria Dear, whose last note will start the race.
-Look, look, look …- says a boy pointing to the hair bristled on his forearm.
Before the anthem, the Olympic champion Theresa Zabell will have read the proclamation, giving way to the part that collects the essence of the seal: the living to the participating countries. “Long live Ukraine!”, “Long live Venezuela!”, O “Long live Singapore!” The decibels rise significantly in the turn of Spain and Asturias.
In just four minutes, all canoeing escape from the field of vision of the thousands of people who have come to see the exit.
-What the canoes, right?- A girl is philosophically throw.
Eight minutes ago the race began. Two canoeists try to fix their boat. They are desperate. They make an Apaño, climb to the boat and advance with an almost melancholic row.
From now on, people will joke with the recreational canoes that are thrown into the water once the official exit is finished. Joke, here, is to dump them, raise them to the air with their members inside or raise huge stones in the back. All with the smile of each other.
The music returns to the streets. They are songs that have been playing here and years: None of this was a mistakeelbows; Princesseslaziness, or Mother Earth (Hey)by Chayanne. You have to be very contemporary classic to sound in Piraguas.
20 kilometers downstream, in the goal of Ribadesella, the mystery entails that all competition is resolved: the result.
In Arriondas, people follow the end of the race on a giant screen. And he shouts when he saw entering the male K2 champions, the Asturians Walter Bouzán and Bertín Llera. 1 hour, 10 minutes and 3 seconds have passed from the exit. The Galician Tania Fernández and Tania Álvarez will win in K2 women with a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 59 seconds.
The party spreads through the streets.
Two girls walk along the bridge from which the proclamation was read and the exit was given. Now it’s empty. Like the banks.
–Tenure365 days are left for the next Piraguas-, says one.
-Well, but it is flying, “she answers the other.
The arms are threaded and they go to the light step back towards music. Direct to the place where life is now concentrated on this summer day in Arriondas.