The Committee
- Takes note that Spain has nominated Tamboradas drum-playing rituals (No. 00704) for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity:
Tamboradas are held each year in Spain during the Catholic Holy Week. Over several days and nights, thousands of drummers simultaneously beat drums, creating a festive, liberating atmosphere that can induce a trance-like state through constant repetition. The drummers cover their heads with helmets, head coverings and pointed hoods, and wear tunics, dress coats, trousers and scarves, made mainly by local craftswomen. The drums are made and maintained by local craftspeople. Any person can participate in the Tamboradas, regardless of gender, age or socioeconomic level and it is the drum community as a whole, through verbal codes and specific gestural patterns, that transmits the instructions needed in order to achieve a synchronized performance. Participants are divided into squads, groups and brotherhoods, and work closely with local and regional authorities to prepare the festivals. Young children are taught drumming techniques and related skills within the family, creating generations of drummers, while practice takes place throughout the year in public and private spaces.
- Decides that, from the information included in the file, the nomination satisfies the following criteria for inscription on the Representative List:
R.2: This element will bring to the forefront all of those civilizations and cultures where percussion is the main creative element used to express such emotions as fear or happiness; the visibility and the need to protect or to celebrate this ritual worldwide will thus be reinforced;
R.3: Within the nomination several safeguarding measures are proposed, and all of them will contribute to ensure the viability of the nominated element;
R.4: The nomination was elaborated through a participatory process that included representatives from various public bodies related to the element, as well as researchers and groups from civil society; moreover, its bearers and practitioners gave their free, prior and informed consent to the nomination;
R.5: The element is included in several regional inventories of the different autonomous communities where it is performed; these inventories are drawn up with the participation of the communities concerned and are regularly updated.
- Further decides that the information included in the file is not sufficient to allow the Committee to determine whether the following criterion for inscription on the Representative List is satisfied:
R.1: Although the element represents a component of cultural identity in many villages, additional information is needed to identify clearly its nature and scope and its current social and cultural functions, its place within the celebrations of the Catholic Holy Week, as well as the specific techniques and knowledge associated with it.
- Decides to refer the nomination of Tamboradas drum-playing rituals to the submitting State Party and invites it to resubmit the nomination to the Committee for examination during a following cycle.