Why does a Galician city have such an exotic animal—a parrot—as a festive and urban icon? Why did the major triathlon championships held here adopt that animal as their mascot? Everything has a historical explanation, related to the nineteenth century culture of the city.
This is the lovely story of Ravachol, the traditional symbol of Pontevedra’s carnival and now also of the most important triathlon events.
On any given morning at the end of the 19th century, anyone walking down Michelena Road would be scolded by a high-pitched, screeching voice. It was Ravachol, whose squawks were heard by everyone around. If someone who looked questionable entered the drugstore where he lived, he would snap at him without contemplation “Aquí non se fía” which means something like: suspicious person here! we don’t trust you! If a priest entered, the parrot imitated a crow; if someone tried to deceive him by offering him a fake candy, he would say “go away, greedy” and if no one attended a customer, Ravachol would warn the clerk: “People in the store”.
The parrot’s ancestors came from a consignment of exotic birds, brought by a ship from America in 1709. After sinking in the estuary of Vigo, right in the middle of the of the Rande, several birds were released and nested all over the area. A music teacher is the one who brought the parrot as a present to Don Perfecto Feijóo, an apothecary established right in front of La Peregrina, where the monument to the animal is now located.
Symbol of the enlightenment era
Feijóo was one of the most cultured and distinguished people in the city between the 19th and 20th centuries, in full resurgence of Galician culture. In addition to being a pharmacist, he was a piper, and he led the first folk music choir in Galicia in 1880, a pioneering experience in Europe in the recovery of popular music. The choir was called ‘Aires da Terra’ which means ‘Air of the land’. His charismatic personality captivated the attention of the most enlightened and advanced society of the time, who held lively gatherings in the pharmacy. The parrot was also the protagonist.
The parrot’s adoption forced him to be named. Why Ravachol? This was the name of a prominent French anarchist of the time, François Claudius Koënigstein, famous throughout the world for the attacks he perpetrated with dynamite, for which he was executed by guillotine in 1892, an event that gave him world fame. As the parrot was a troublemaker of the highest order, he deserved such a name.
In January 1913, exactly 110 years ago, Ravachol died. By all accounts, caused by a deluge of wine-soaked biscuits. In an atmosphere of deep urban sadness, the corpse was embalmed and displayed in the pharmacy, which quickly became too small for so many people who decided to honor it. The event caused people to send telegrams of condolences from all over Spain.
And a burial with official honors
As the apothecary was small, Ravachol’s lifeless body was moved to the Circo de Artesáns, where it was visited by civil and military authorities, who paid their respects. The official burial was set for February 5th, Ash Wednesday. The funeral was led by twelve horses with riders, there were musical bands and troupes followed by a multitude of people dressed in black and carrying funeral lanterns, as requested by the local authorities. An inauspicious evening that ended with the burial of the parrot in the country house of don Perfecto Feijóo in Mourente, very close to the city. Thus ended 20 years of Ravachol being at the center of the social life of Pontevedra.
After the Franco dictatorship and with the restoration of the carnival, Ravachol went on to preside over the Pontevedra winter festivals, which last for 10 days and are full of fun and popular events such as music and parody competitions, float parades and a party dedicated to another horse local person: the Pirate Benito Soto, a Pontevedra man who dedicated himself, a hundred years before Ravachol died, to raiding ships in the Atlantic and murdering their crews in order to keep their rich spoils.
King of the carnival… and of triathlon!
The creative team in charge of the identity and branding in keeping with the values of triathlon for the of the last Multisport 2019 world championship took advantage of this beautiful story to materialize a symbol that combined the concepts of sport, agility, speed, beauty, the bodies of origin, universality, party, fun and excitement And the mascot was born, from the hand of the local artist David Campos, a cartoonist who knew how to summarize the forms typical of the comic strip an attractive and vital character, full of action and courage, like our sport king.
The colorful and funny Ravachol, active and daring, takes on a half-human form thanks to the creation of Pablo Méndez, to serve as a living photocall mascot for selfies during the competition days.
A way to pay tribute to Pontevedra’s urban memory, collecting this beautiful legacy of its tradition and using it as the king of the competition.
