“A Stroll Through Don Quixote” once again takes visitors through the nooks and crannies of Villanueva de los Infantes, evoking the words of Cervantes

Once again this year, on the eve of the opening of the Fair and Festivities, Villanueva de los Infantes celebrated its traditional “Walk Through Don Quixote.” An initiative of the “Cruz de Santiago” Folklore and Tradition Association, the event highlights the town’s connection to Cervantes’ work, as well as Villanueva de los Infantes’ tangible and intangible heritage.

This literary tour, which took place last night, featured readings of representative passages from *Don Quixote*; these served as a guiding thread through the town’s iconic sites, which have been identified as “the Place in La Mancha” that Cervantes did not want to recall at the beginning of the novel. Throughout the tour, readers and the audience were accompanied by the “Cruz de Santiago” theater group and folk music ensemble, as well as special guests Don Quixote and Sancho Panza themselves, portrayed by Ángel Montalbán and Justo Lorente.

This year’s event began in the atrium of the Church of Santo Domingo, with the first reading taking place in the chapel of the Sagrado Corazón School, delivered by the Councilwoman for Education, Equality, and Festivities, Ana Belén Rodríguez. Next, Miguel Ángel Díaz Brazales, Provincial Delegate for Economy, Business, and Employment, took the stage in the courtyard of the Municipal Market. The municipal auditor, María del Prado Mateos-Aparicio, did the same at the Casa de la Pirra, where she also “threw the mayo” at Dulcinea, another of the signature moments of the “Walk Through Don Quixote,” showcasing one of the most distinctive traditions of Villanueva de los Infantes’ folklore.

The tour continued to two manor houses belonging to the town’s ancient noble families, the Fernández Buenache and the Ballesteros, where pharmacist Fernando Martos and José Javier Pacheco, a member of the “Cruz de Santiago” Association, served as readers, respectively. The tour concluded, as is customary, in the Plaza de la Fuente Vieja, with a theatrical reenactment of several of Don Quixote’s adventures and the presentation of awards to participants and collaborators.