This upcoming April 30th, the town of Burgui, a village in the Roncal Valley, will celebrate the Day of the Almadia. This festivity, held every year on around the same date, pays tribute to the “Almadieros” (Timber Rafters) who in the past transported timber wood for sale to other localities down the riverbed of the Ebro River. In Navarre’s Pyrenean valleys, the exploitation of woodland has been one of the region’s main sources of income and its rivers were used to transport the wood. To achieve this, the Almadieros would build a type of raft consisting of several logs of the same length held together by ropes made of willow: the almadias. As a result of improved communications and the construction of the Yesa Reservoir, the profession of Almadiero disappeared in 1952.
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