HISTORY OF THE LIVING NATIVITY SCENE OF CASTELL D'ARO

The Living Nativity Scene of Castell d'Aro is a nativity scene carried out by Mosén Gumersind in 1959, who stated in his memoirs that he was inspired by the Living Nativity Scene of Engordany (Andorra) created by Esteve Albert.

It all began one afternoon while the meeting was being held to organize the Midnight Mass in Castell d'Aro. The priest told the youth of the village the idea of creating a living nativity scene at the end of the mass. The boys and girls quickly accepted the proposal, as they were very excited to be able to carry out this project in the town.

That same year, moments after leaving the mass, a small nativity scene was staged in the ruins of the Castle of Benedormiens, next to the church of Santa Maria.

Given the good reception by the people of the village, the following year there were many more families who were encouraged and decided to start collaborating. For this same reason, the route was extended, each year a part, to date, where the entire old town is covered with scenes.

When the crib was already eight years old, Mossèn Gumersind left the parish of Castell d'Aro and gave the responsibility of directing it to Mossèn Agustí Vila, who was at the top of the project for more than 30 years. In 2004 the Association of the Living Nativity Scene was created, and a new stage of its history began.

On April 23, 2011, Castell d'Aro received the Cross of Sant Jordi in the hands of the Generalitat de Catalunya, for his great work in the Living Nativity Scene. This fact brought a great illusion to all the people who in some way were and still are involved. Receiving the Cross of Sant Jordi, not only meant a great victory, but it was the feeling of good work for all participants.

On May 1, 2011, a party was organized in Castell d'Aro to celebrate this award. That same day, at 11 am a mass was held and at the end, in the municipal pavilion of the village, members of the council and the Association addressed a few words to the public. Then the event was closed with an aperitif for all attendees.

Recently, the 60th edition was celebrated. For this reason, on December 23, 2018, during the first performance, TV Costa Brava made a special live program, where several images of before and now were shown and, in addition, interviews were conducted with the presidency of the association, the secretary and extras.

On January 20, 2019, to celebrate these 60 years, a lunch was held with all the participants. It was a day of remembrance, illusion and happiness for all those who attended.

On November 4, 2019 the guardonados were made public in the hands of the Castell-Playa de Aro businessmen. These awarded the prize Panellet to the Living Nativity Scene.

Today, the nativity scene is still more alive than ever, being even the oldest Living Nativity Scene in Catalonia, with a whole town involved so that year after year it comes out the best possible and with a lot of representative scenes. The collaboration increases and makes every Christmas one of the emblematic places to visit, both for its brightness and for the harmony that unites the whole municipality. As Mosén Agustín said in December 2011, "the village of Castell d'Aro was and is a very nice place to make a crib, the environment is exemplary and by itself, it is already a monumental crib".

Source: Laura Sais