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Craftspeople and historic pantallas of the Xinzo Entroido

Who made the Xinzo Pantallas and how the trade was passed on: Pepucho, José Santiago Taboada, Julio Villarino, Celso Lorenzo, Pucho, Chelís, Santi and Aurora, the Trisquel Association and the women who wore them.

The blog As tradicións da Limia, by Xosé Calleja López, has since 2021 been studying one by one the old Pantallas lent to him by local people: it measures each mask, tells its history and says who made it. From that archive comes a history of the craft of making Pantallas in Xinzo, summarised here [1].

The legendary origin

In the legendary world of the mask, it is said that José Santiago Taboada (1885–1969), secretary of Laza Town Council, wanted to make a different mask for Xinzo, which only had cigarrones and peliqueiros; the design of the first Pantalla would be kept in a suitcase in an attic. In Laza they tell the same, but put in José Santiago’s own mouth that he created it to mock the people of Laza [2]. It is a legend, not a documented fact.

The oldest pantallas

  • Pepucho’s (1945-1946). It is possibly the oldest surviving Pantalla and today forms part of the holdings of the A Pantalla Association. It would have been made by José Taboada, Pepucho, a neighbour with a shop next to the saddler’s, for his nephews Tucho (Augusto José Carballo Taboada) and Luis, aged 12 or 13. It has a pink face, a perimeter of 33 cm, a beard with three waves on each side, a nose that continues up to the forehead (not ending at the eyes as on current ones) and eyes painted red without lashes; on the horn there is a devil in a red frock coat [3].
  • José Santiago Taboada’s (1940-1945). Julio Villarino, his son-in-law, learned from him and says that he was then the best at making Pantallas. Julio took it through the streets of Xinzo and gave it to his nephew Alfonso Villarino, who repaired it at the start of the 21st century. Suso Losada Laxe restored it, keeping the structure; it measures 31 cm in perimeter. The faces of his pantallas, according to relatives, were never the same [2].

Julio Villarino and the passing on of the craft

Julio Villarino was the reference for making Pantallas. He kept the tradition and taught several generations to make the mask, and insisted it be worn with respect and fulfilling its role. In the 1970s he helped stop the Pantalla from disappearing by passing it on to a group of young people [4]. In 1977 a group of Xinzo youngsters, aged 14 and 15, got together in a flat belonging to José Feliciano’s family to make their own Pantallas, advised by Julio, who would not allow a Pantalla not to be made "properly". They met two months before the Entroido, changed the horn design every year and, to get the hat, stole it at a mass at the moment the priest raised the chalice. From that 1977 Pantalla Justo Gude learned to be a Pantalla, and he used it until 1992. The Town Council organised two workshops with Julio in 1979 and 1981, but the students dropped out as soon as they learned the hat cut, which he disliked, and he stopped giving them. The initiative appeared on Entroido Tuesday 1977 in El Pueblo Gallego [5][6].

Other families and craftspeople

  • Rafael Laso Losada and Celso Lorenzo (Manatas). Celso learned from Laso, a relative, and made Pantallas for decades for local people; his brother Sindo also made them, and his son José Manuel wore one made by his godfather Rafael [7].
  • Quique Suárez (Quique de Barcelona). An innovator in shape and colours; his model did not catch on but his influence shows in some parts of current ones. He came every year from Barcelona to the Xinzo Entroido [2][8].
  • Pucho (José Carrera Santana) and Barge. They made many pantallas in the 1980s and 1990s, with a "V"-cut hat; Pucho still enlivens the Entroido with a float with the band [7].
  • Chelís (José Luis Diz Rodríguez), of the Valerianos family, made pantallas, including a child’s made entirely of soap-box cardboard [7].
  • Cesi (César de Saa Míguel), linked to football and design, made pantallas between the 20th and 21st centuries [7].
  • César Vidal, who made one in 1970 for Carlos Míguez Bernárdez; at that time those who made Pantallas made few and only for relatives or very close people [7].
  • Santi (Santiago Martínez Santana) and Aurora, active since the 1980s; Santi and Aurora’s workshop still repairs and makes masks [7].
  • Poly, Pipo, Cuco, Lulo and Jero Peláez, who make pantallas for relatives and friends [7][9].

A Pantalla and a campaign

In the 1990s the Trisquel Association organised Pantalla-making courses and a "campaign in defence of the Pantalla" (recorded in the minutes of 28 September 1992) to curb the drift of inappropriate behaviour by pantallas that dated from the 1980s; the courses were given by Suso Laxe, Luis "Lichas", Suso Fariñas and Chelís [9].

Women in the Pantalla

In the past only men went out. Raquel Rodríguez Méndez, according to her son Jorge Juan Sánchez, lived the Entroido fully and wore the Pantalla in the early 1950s with two other women, Sita Salgado Ferrín and Lucita Tejada Peláez; at that time it was not thought proper for women to wear the Pantalla. Raquel later made pantallas for her son (c. 1969-1971) and for her granddaughter (1997) [10].

A heritage that is kept

Calleja insists that old pantallas are not thrown away: they are kept in wardrobes, in attics or as decoration, and they must be repaired carefully because they are a treasure. The oldest surviving one forms part of the holdings of the A Pantalla Association [1][3].

Sources

  1. Xosé Calleja López, As tradicións da Limia, serie de estudos de Pantallas, 2021-2026. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/
  2. «Pantalla feita por José Santiago Taboada. Ano 1940-1945», 22/12/2025. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-feita-por-jose-santiago-taboada-ano-1940-1945/
  3. «A Pantalla do Pepucho. Ano 1945-1946», 30/03/2024. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/a-pantalla-do-pepucho-ano-1945-1946/
  4. «Pantalla de Julio Villarino remozada no ano 1994», 04/01/2025. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-julio-villarino-remozada-no-ano-1994-a-pantalla-e-da-sua-sobrina-mari-villarino/
  5. «A Pantalla de Justo Gude. Ano 1977», 08/11/2024. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/a-pantalla-de-justo-gude-ano-1977/
  6. «A Pantalla do Xoán Losada feita polo Xesús Losada Laxe», 08/06/2024. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/a-pantalla-do-xoan-losada-feita-polo-xesus-losada-laxe/
  7. Estudos das pantallas de Celso Lorenzo, Pucho, Barge, Chelís, Cesi, César Vidal e Santi (As tradicións da Limia, 2023-2025), p. ex. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-feita-por-celso-lorenzo-manatas-para-angela-moran/
  8. «Pantalla de Luisa Laso Gómez feita polo seu tío Quique Suárez», 17/11/2024. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-luisa-laso-gomez-feita-polo-seu-tio-quique-suarez-quique-de-barcelona-no-ano-1984/
  9. «Pantalla de Jero Peláez Gómez feita por el mesmo no obradoiro da Asociación Trisquel», 03/10/2025. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-jero-pelaez-gomez-feita-por-el-mesmo-no-obradoiro-da-asociacion-trisquel/
  10. «Pantalla feita por Raquel Rodríguez Méndez para a súa neta Raquel Sánchez González. Ano 1997», 24/02/2025. https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-feita-por-raquel-rodriguez-mendez-para-a-sua-neta-raquel-sanchez-gonzalez-ano-1997/
  11. «PANTALLA DE JOSÉ MANUEL LORENZO RODRÍGUEZ FEITA POLO SEU PADRIÑO RAFAEL LASO LOSADA». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-jose-manuel-lorenzo-rodriguez-feita-polo-seu-padrino-rafael-laso-losada/
  12. «PANTALLA FEITA POR CESAR VIDAL PARA CARLOS MÍGUEZ BERNÁRDEZ. ANO 1970». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-feita-por-cesar-vidal-para-carlos-miguez-bernardez-ano-1970/
  13. «PANTALLA DE SANTI PARA JOSE ANTONIO PARENTE CAMINO.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-santi-para-jose-antonio-parente-camino/
  14. «PANTALLA DE PUCHO PARA JESUS MARIA RIVAS ROMAN.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-pucho-para-jesus-maria-rivas-roman/
  15. «PANTALLA DE ANTONIO BARGE FEITA PARA JOSE MANUEL BARJA GARRIDO.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-antonio-barge-feita-para-jose-manuel-barja-garrido/
  16. «CAPA DE ENRIQUE SUÁREZ GÓMEZ (QUIQUE DE BARCELONA).». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/capa-de-enrique-suarez-gomez-quique-de-barcelona/
  17. «PANTALLA DE JOSÉ RAMÓN SANTIAGO (PEPE MÍPALO) FEITA POR QUIQUE SUÁREZ.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-jose-ramon-santiago-pepe-mipalo-feita-por-quique-suarez/
  18. «PANTALLA DE VICTORIANO OJEA FEITA POR JOSÉ LUIS CARRERA (LUIS LICHAS).». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-victoriano-ojea-feita-por-jose-luis-carrera-luis-lichas/
  19. «PANTALLA DE FELISINDO LORENZO OTERO (SINDO MANATAS) IRMAO DE CELSO LORENZO OTERO (CELSO MANATAS).». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-felisindo-lorenzo-otero-sindo-manatas-irmao-de-celso-lorenzo-otero-celso-manatas/
  20. «PANTALLA DE JUAN JOSÉ LÓPEZ VILLARINO (JUANILLO) FEITA PARA MARISOL MOURIZ DÍAZ.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-juan-jose-lopez-villarino-juanillo-feita-para-marisol-mouriz-diaz/
  21. «PANTALLA DE ENRIQUE SUÁREZ GÓMEZ (QUIQUE DE BARCELONA) DO ANO 1991.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-enrique-suarez-gomez-quique-de-barcelona-do-ano-1991/
  22. «PANTALLA FEITA POR CARMEN VÁZQUEZ PARA AS SÚAS NETAS.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-feita-por-carmen-vazquez-para-as-suas-netas/
  23. «A PANTALLA DE LUIS CORBILLÓN». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-luis-corbillon/
  24. «PANTALLA DE JULIO VILLARINO, POSIBLEMENTE A ÚLTIMA QUE FIXO.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-julio-villarino-posiblemente-a-ultima-que-fixo/
  25. «PANTALLA DE GILBERTO ACEVEDO (BERTO).». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-de-gilberto-acevedo-berto/
  26. «PANTALLA DO PUCHO DO ANO 1990.». https://tradicionsdalimia.es/pantalla-do-pucho-do-ano-1990/

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