Ritual Symbolism and Communion in the Zangarrón of Montamarta

This article offers an ethnographic analysis of the winter masquerade of the Zangarrón of Montamarta (Zamora), one of the most complex rituals in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. On New Year's Day and on Epiphany, two different young men repeat the rite and embody this masked figure, who is the central character of a festival of considerable ritual density in which the entire village participates. Drawing on fieldwork and a review of the ethnographic literature, the article examines its historical development, the transformation of the figure, and the organisational changes promoted by the community. The ritual dressing, the materiality of the mask and costume, the route followed, the collection of offerings, the runs, the interaction with civil and religious authorities, and the integration of the ritual into the Christmas celebrations are described in detail. The analysis interprets the rite as a symbolic structure of solstitial regeneration, in which the masked figure embodies an ambivalent daimon that articulates playful violence, fertility, and social cohesion. Attention is given to the episode of the bread, proposing two readings: the historical hypothesis of a possible paraconsecration that has now disappeared, and the contemporary interpretation of the ritual “theft” as a redistribution of blessed food with symbolic efficacy.