Iditarod pioneer., 1915-05-22
MAKING LOVE IN SPAIN
 QUITE A STRENUOUS TASK

Espousals in Spain are still romantic af-
 fairs, invested with character very diff
 fcrent from anything that obtains else
 where The novio and the novia make their
 choice of one another independentlv, and
 unbeknown to their parents, at the hazard
 of an accidental meeting in the street, after
 which the young man, having followed the
 girl to her home knows that if she appears
 at the window his attentions are agreeable to her.
 This is the beginning of relations off
 cieuses between them which her family ig-
 nores or preends to ignore. The lovers are at first restricted to seeing each other at 1 distance, on the promenade, at. the theater
 or in church; afterwards they communicate in writing, still without parental interfer ! ence, and begin to pelar la pava (''pluck the i turkey'l that IS to say to converse of an
 evening" he from the street, she from her l balcony.
 | In Andalusia the rejas (grilles of the | houses that abut onto the street lend them 1 selves admirably to these ntrigues, but tlse | where in the great towns the buildings con | taining several flats are less favorable, and ! they are obliged to have recourse to means | of communication such as pocket telephones i and the deaf and dumb alphabet.
 Later on they are permitted to walk to- | gether under the surveillance of the mother 1 or of some other trustworthy person; but, even so, the betrothal has not yet become official, and 1t Is only at the end of seV- eral months sometimes of several years that the suitor demands his sWeetheart's | hand in marriage and iS allowed to enter the house As result of this free choice it | follows that many unions are one-sded III i the matter of class CT fortune affection alcne being considered, and 1t Is frequently necessary to overcome the opposition Of the narentS. In such case the man has the | right to place hls sweetheart in convent
 until she attalns her majority.
 Formerly they could also SC mauer par
 surprise by suddenly lneeiing before the
 priest at mass during the benedlctlon, but | this custom has been abolished. In the villages, besides the custom of 'plucklng the turkey" it is usual to woo the noVa | with nocturnal ssrenades rendered either as solos or es choruscs irondalas1, and on cer- ] tain days of the year the n0vio must clImb
 to his lady's balcony and leave bouquet ! there
 i The essentially religious ceremony Ct mar
 riage is characterized in Spain by the pres
 entat;on to the bride of geld or silver arras, i the gift of the husband or Of the husbanH S father, and by the circumstance that the
 newly welded must follow the service kneel- i ing. with their heads covered by the same
 veil as symbol of their union. But there
 are many other customs peculiar to certain | localities In Lagartera, for instance the 1 bridegroom must have al the male guests
 shaved at his expense, and must give all the women folk of the brides family richly
 embroidered shoes.
 Each guest in his turn offers the bride
 2 piece of silver. which she bures Tn an i aprle stuck Cn the point of knife and holds in her hand while dancing in front 1 of the donor. Amc4gst the Maragatos (tor- mer]y at least the hancee might not speak to any man except her lover, falling which she pad a forfeit; and even today las also
 in some parts of Andaluslal she Is Ietcheu from her home by large cortege ot trends, who fire of G.uskcts as a sign ot loy III tue
 Arab fashion.
 Ccntrariwi.e to what obtains ill the ret of Europe. tke women may be said to be
 more emancip&ted as a girl than when she is married It is while she IS >n2I' that ybp spalklaS and adorns herself and tilrtS to
 win the noyio of her choice, but 2S wife and the mother of 2 family she passes her l life, in the majority of c&,es i'll the retire
 nent Of her home. spanish jealousy IS al
 most proverDial, but it is perhaps net gen | pra'lv known that in Spain the women take
 particular care to hide the foct. Or at 1 ies,: they were at pains to do so for the invas.ons of foreign fashions has motAhe" , this usage, and today the Madrllenas wear the short or slashcd skirt from Paris. The women of Montehermoso and Legartera, ! however, were never disturbed by any Scru- ples in this directon.-London Times.