atún

i am talking about tuna, this santiago tradition that you get to experience sometime after las diez de la noche.

atún refers to the origins of the city's famous student musical groups. according to one linguistic theory, the musical term ‘tuna’ comes directly from the word atún because these students live(d) just like the migratory fish: constantly swimming from place to place, never staying static, and always on the hunt for their next meal.

according to the questionable local historiography at the law faculty tuna of santiago de compostela this tradtion came into existance sometime between the mesozoic era and the late 20th century - i couldn’t find more exact information. supposedly, when eighteen young students inhaled an excessive amount of ‘gas ribeiro’, they had the idea. there is something about the consumption of substances and ideas - maybe.

since these students were practically broke, their hunt for food consisted of roaming through boarding houses and taverns to serenade people in exchange for a warm bowl of soup, which earned them the nickname ‘sopistas’.

since there was a running event on on saturday where everybody seemed to be out and about, we came across una banda de sopistas and ended up cheering the runners and them. a nice end to the first and last evening in santiago this time around.