Cemetery Keeping: The Municipal Cemetery of Haro (La Rioja, Spain)





Visiting the Haro Cemetery on a Sunday morning in early autumn is like being invited onto the set of Pedro Almodovar’s popular film Volver. Last Sunday it seemed that half the town had turned out and were all there on a housekeeping mission. Well, gravekeeping mission. Washing, sweeping, polishing, changing flowers... everyone (except us) was there sprucing up the tumbs! And just like the Manchego widows in the opening scene of Volver - energetically cleaning their family graves in the village cemetery - the visitors to the Haro Cemetery were carrying out their tasks with all the spontaneity and naturalness in the world.  All around us we could hear bits of cheerful conversation. And what did we observe? Small children skipping and playing among the tumbs while their parents swept, young couples bringing in fresh flowers, elderly widows strolling arm-in-arm, and large gypsy families congregated around colorful family plots. If we had felt a bit like extras on the Volver set when we entered, it was soon apparent that we had landed very interesting parts. By far, this was quite the lively cemetery! 

Location and surroundings: The Haro Cemetery is located about 5 kilometres from the city centre (you need a car to get there) and is out amongst the motorway hotels, an industrial park and some small vineyards. The exterior surroundings are not very attractive, but the cemetery itself is beautiful. If you have never visted Haro  (in the northwest of La Rioja, Spain’s renowned wine-producing region) plan to spend, at least, a weekend as there is plenty to do and see.

The main entrance is a tall wrought iron gate which opens into this walled cemetery. Designed by architect Juan Cabrera de la Torre, it was inaugurated in 1893



Cypresses:  Very tall cypresses fill a good part of the cemetery giving it a fresh, green feel. This is what most impressed me once inside the attractive main entrance. Also the shaded central avenue which leads to a large chapel. All this invites the visitor to relax, stroll and have a look about. Firstly, you’ll come across some very large and imposing family plots on both sides of the central avenue. The one that stands out the most is that of a prosperous local wine business family:  a huge geometric bathtub-shaped scupture, high above the private gated garden at its feet. Definitely one of the biggest and most imposing grave markers we’ve seen. We couldn’t figure out if the “bathtub” might have some relation to the family business, but there was so much else to see that we decided to move on.

You can do the Haro Cemetery in a couple of hours if you move around quickly. But I recommend arriving at the opening hour so you don’t feel rushed – there is a lot of funerary art and interesting tombs to see.  The cemetery is open all year: mornings 10-1, and  afternoons  3-7  (summer) and 3-6 (winter). The friendly groundskeeper rings the chapel bell when it’s time to leave.

Angels and more angels.... there are many - and in all shapes and sizes in this cemetery. It took us a good while to see all of them; some of them are a photographer’s delight. However, a number of them have the same strange defect: sunken, blank eyes which make their faces rather disturbing to look at. In fact, many of the other figures on the graves: virgens, weeping maidens, Baby Jesuses and an excellent death-like monk, exhibited the same scary, blank eyes. Was a local sculptor responsible for this?  Hmmm...

Crucifixes: Like all catholic cemeteries in Spain, crucifixes are the most common grave marker here, most of them of stone and unadorned. However, in the oldest section of the cemetery (to your left as you enter) there are some interesting wrought iron crosses. Small and simple by today’s standards,  they feature ceramic plaques with the photographs and DOB’s/DOD’s* of the tomb’s occupants, which line the cross up and down. I imagine they were a less expensive grave marker in their time. Also in this section, you’ll see a row of tombs which include small glass-enclosed alters with statues of religious figures inside. Haro is well-known for the glass-enclosed balconies miradores on its houses. I wondered if the glass enclosed alters at the top of the graves were intended to resemble miradores. However, a local visitor assured me the glass was simply intended to house and protect a favourite saint or virgen, for example,  Haro’s well loved Virgen de la Vega.

Gypsy graves: Walking towards the back of the cemetery and on the right, you can visit some gypsy graves. As you walk in that direction, you’ll spot them immediately as they are very colourful and stand out from all the others in the cemetery. Adorned with bright flowers and various ornaments (horses, eagles, angels, maidens), those we saw were expensive-looking tombs with the pictures of their occupants- all handsome men - in a prominant place. Last Sunday, a local gypsy family was visiting their family plot so we viewed this area of the Haro Cemetery discreetly, deciding not to  photograph the graves until the family had left almost at closing time.

I’ve since looked for the significance of the figure of the eagle which we saw on all of the gypsy graves, but I didn’t’t find specific information. Only that when a gypsy dies, he/she is usually buried with his/her intimate personal belongings such as jewellry and trinkets. And that floral tributes are usually on a grand scale at both the funeral and gravesites. Gypsy childrens’ graves are often decorated in observance of their birthdays or favourite holidays along the year.

Closing time: We left the Haro Cemetery right at closing time with the many people who had entered with us. The handsome young groundskeeper, clad in shorts, a pink t-shirt and friendly smile, had rung the chapel bell and then moved around amongst us, reminding us it was time to leave.