Lady Goyesca

The Damas Goyesca are so immensely popular that in 2009 a bronze statue of a Goyesca was inaugurated in Albereda Park , right in front of the statue of Pedro Romero, Ronda's most famous bullfighter.

Since the inception of the Goyesca race during Ronda's September Fair in 1954, the Goyesca Ladies of Ronda have been the official representatives of the city and the welcoming committee for visiting dignitaries.

The role is very demanding, not only because of the responsibility, but also because of the long training schedule and trying on the clothes before party week.

A President of the Damas Goyesca is elected each year , usually a very respected woman in Ronda who has won the affection of the Rondins and is seen as a model of femininity for others to emulate.

At the same time, fourteen younger Rondeñas are chosen to assist the President in her duties, usually the youngest Damas Goyesca are teenagers, and of course chosen for their beauty and grace.

Each year in Ronda, some of the city's ladies are elected Damas Goyescas, and they represent the ladies who appear in some of Francisco de Goya's late 18th-century paintings depicting bullfights and parades . In fact, many of Goya's paintings were commissioned by a tapestry workshop in Madrid with the intention of printing the paintings on canvas.

When Goya painted his portraits of the nobility, colorful fabrics and matching accessories such as shoes, fans, hairpieces , etc. were in fashion. The costumes worn by Dames Goyesca de Ronda are not exact copies of those in Goya's paintings, but are intended to reflect the matador designs that appear in Pedro Romero's Goya paintings and are therefore complementary rather than historically accurate.

Some art historians argue that Goya's paintings of the Duchess of Alba were the inspiration for the dresses of the Damas Goyesca , and to a lesser extent this may be true, as they recall many of the simpler dresses worn by the ladies while the more complicated designs became however developed in the 20th century in response to perceived 18th century fashions and as such are even more beautiful and beautiful than they would have been.

Each dress can cost many thousands of euros, everything is made individually for the lady, right down to the handmade shoes and lace scarves. In addition, each goyesca usually wears a different dress for less formal occasions, and perhaps a third for certain medal ceremonies.

Willem Vandenameele