The Hortaleza collaborative cavalcade

We wanted to take part in the 2018 cavalcade. The cavalcade has been organised by neighbourhood associations since 1974. It is the biggest event in the district. And we did it. There we coincided with charismatic groups from Hortaleza like Jóvenes del Parque, El Olivar, Danos Tiempo, Amejhor, Sambaleza and many more with whom we felt identified. In this environment you see so much solidarity, a commitment we immediately embraced, although we know that our group has also sown its own seeds. It is very rewarding to see a group of people make such a big effort for the pleasure of seeing children, and not-so-young children, enjoy themselves. Since then, the roots of our allotment have spread out both by land and by air and are now in all Hortaleza district, not just Manoteras.

Getting a cavalcade ready takes hours and hours of work and organising, from the general coordination aspect to the individual costumes. The days leading up to a cavalcade are intense, and there is always some little detail missing. The 5^th of January 2018 was a very rainy day, making our first participation epical.

At first, only members of the allotment took part, but we gradually got the whole Manoteras neighbourhood involved and La Soci, the parents/teachers associations from Mendez Nuñez school and El Carmen junior school, La Tribu, the Grupo Scout Pinar, etc, joined in. The poster with which we led our procession says «Manoteras nunca cabalga sola» («Manoteras never rides alone»), which says it all.