TIZIMÍN.— Over the years, the construction of the artisan arena where the traditional bullfighting festival With more than a century of history, it has undergone important technical transformations in tools and design, without losing the essence that gives identity and cultural value to this celebration.
One of the families that keeps this alive ancestral legacy is Zavala, which now includes four generations of palqueros committed to the construction of the bullring, motivated by their faith and devotion to the Three Holy Kings.
Although their original assignment is the construction of a single box, the experience and responsibility acquired over the years has led them to support other palqueros who, for reasons of health or lack of time of the new generations, have not been able to fulfill this task. On this occasion, the Zavala family has been in charge of preparing 10 stages.
Pablo Jesús Zavala González He reported that together with his son, Manuel Zavala Borgesand his grandson, José Manuel Zavala Pérez, They not only build the box that corresponds to them by tradition, but also those that they assumed as a commission from their companions. He recalled that this tradition began more than 100 years with his grandfather Albino Zavala Cocom y continued with his father, Pablo Zavala Cocomwhen the fair was held in the center of the city and the bullring was built right there.
Since he was a child he learned the trade, just as he instilled it in his son and grandson today, from going to the mountains to select and cut the wood, to digging the wells and building the box.
He narrated that with the passage of time, the palqueros have become true “architects” of the artisanal arena, making the structures more precise, resistant and aesthetic.
Among the most visible changes is the design of the stairs, which were previously divided into both sides and are now built on one side, as well as better leveled planks.
“We new generations bring new ideas, better ties and, in many cases, studies that our parents did not have,” he noted. Zavala González, who added that today knowledge of mathematics is even applied for measurements and calculations.
Likewise, he indicated that the tools have changed, since before only the machete was used and now the chainsaw allows you to work faster and with less physical wear and tear.
These advances have significantly reduced construction time, to the point that, in experienced hands, a box can be ready in a single day. However, he said that the responsibility is greater, since hundreds of people congregate on these structures, so there can be no failures.
As in all craft work, risks are present, falls and injuries are part of the dangers faced.
The interviewee stated that one of his colleagues recently suffered an accident when he fell and he himself suffered an injury to his hand after crushing a finger in recent days.
“We took the risk, but all this is out of tradition and devotion to the Three Kings. It’s worth it,” he said.