Recolección del Pero Festival
The Recolección del Pero Festival, although young, has generated since its beginnings in the year 2006 a great acceptance that provokes an increase in the number of visitors and that come to enjoy it every year. It is celebrated in autumn and on Saturday, its exact date varies according to the ripening of the fruit conditioned by the climatology. This celebration implies a value of the agricultural culture and a recognition to the quality of the small autochthonous productions of La Sierra de Rincón, which promotes the conservation and the increase of Crops and thus the genetic diversity of agriculture.
El Pero is a variety of apple that is characterized by its exquisite flavor and its pleasant smell. From time immemorial the lands of this municipality, integrated since the year 2005 in the reserve of the biosphere Sierra del Rincón, were characterized by their generosity in the production of fruit. In fact, according to the registry of Ensenada, one of the areas with most fruit was La Hiruela.
Up to 30 different varieties, among pears, apple trees and cherry trees, served as livelihoods for the neighbors economies. Historically El Pero was a reference in the development of La Hiruela, since it was cultivated for its commercialization, besides for its consumption, being an economic pillar of great importance.
he chronicles tell that it was sold in the barley market, in the Villa and court of Madrid and that came to be consumed in the Royal House. The day of the Feast of the collection of El Pero focuses mainly on the acts of tasting and sampling different varieties of apples, which acquaint you to the local products along with the methods related to them.
The technique of grafting, the tasting of varieties of apples, the sampling of local dishes elaborated with different local varieties of apple, like the “Ostia”, made with fine slices of Pero, battered with egg and fried, which are served accompanied by orange or the well-known “Migas”.
At the same time, and throughout the day, there are guided tours through the gardens and other ethnographic pillars of La Hiruela such as the Flour mill, the Coal plant, the traditional Apiary and all its natural surroundings.