V Contest of Tunas City of La Línea.
La Tuna, in the history of Spain.
La tuna could be considered one of the oldest university institutions in history. Its beginnings are linked to that of the Universities of Palencia (1208) and Salamanca (1220).
The original Tunos were university students who came from the humblest classes and were known as sopistas, since they made rondallas and serenades to entertain those present in exchange for a bowl of soup.
As the university evolved, the sopistas did so, integrating with time all kinds of people of any economic condition.
The term tuna comes from the word tunante, which was the way of calling those who led a late-night and happy life. In fact, in the RAE Dictionary it brings us the description of crook as "rogue, scoundrel and devious" and refers us to the word tunar, which describes it as "wandering in free life."
All universities have their tuna and in them you can find a series of the most picturesque characters
In addition, the tunos are characterized by their jovial and fun attitude. Accompanied by their instruments, they perform songs or serenades both in Spain and in the rest of the world thanks to their great predilection for traveling around the world. The meaning of the Tuna encompasses many more values than those described, such as the student feeling as well as the spirit of brotherhood that characterizes the Spanish Tunas and the rest of the world.
However, always accompanied by their instruments, they perform songs or serenades both in Spain and in the rest, characterizing the spirit of brotherhood, so present in the tunas.
The origin of the Tuna of Spain arises in the 12th century with the evolution of the goliards of the time. We can say that the first sopistas were born in parallel with the first Universities in Spain. In this way, the first sopists without economic resources would begin to study at the University, using music to pay for their studies. The first Universities were those of Palencia and Salamanca, where the first Tunos originated.
Subsequently and up to the present, we can also find Tunos in other countries, such as the Tunas of Portugal, Tunas in Hispanic America and in other countries such as the Netherlands and Japan.
Tuna's repertoire can be classified into a wide catalogue. The characteristic genre of this institution are the Estudiantinas and the Tuna genre. These cheerful pieces are composed by the students of the different Universities. In addition, since its inception, they cover student-themed topics, such as love affairs, heartbreaks, partying, nocturnal wanderings, travel and the feeling of brotherhood among the members of the Tuna.
In addition, over the years the Tunas have been including songs of a popular nature and of a more current nature to their repertoire. It is easy to listen to the Tunas singing regional songs, rumbas, pasodobles, chotis, jotas, sevillanas, sardanas and popular songs from other countries, often introduced into their repertoire thanks to their travels around the world.
In the middle of this century, the XXI, already with eight centuries of existence in the backpack, a small uproar arises due to the need to also include "parity" in the tunas, a short-term commotion, because To be able to enter a tuna, the sine quanom condition is to be a man and to be a university student. To everyone's surprise, the girls, in the name of whom this achievement was "supposedly", categorically reject being mixed in that area, and decide , by an overwhelming majority, the democratic character of the tunas is to be praised, that they were so capable of organizing themselves as tuna, like those already established since long ago, and the female tunas arise.
Of these, it is not that there are many, but the ones that exist have been consolidated and maintain the original spirit of the goliards and sopists, of the happy and nightlife girl, and what is more important, they boldly maintain their independence as female tunas. and they do not want to know anything about integrations or other inventions.
The time has come to confess that I am an implicated party, at 63 years old, I was and still are Tuno, of a tuna recognized throughout Spain as the bearer of the oldest traditions, by which we abide, and we are not the only one, far from it. .
They criticize us for living off stories, and that we don't study, and that we no longer have anything to do with studies.
Flagrant lie, when the tunas and especially mine, is still linked to the Faculty and the University, and has given great names to the Institution
I do not want to mention anyone in particular, but to dispel doubts, I will remember Mr. Manuel... I will leave him there, I opt for prudence, but among my colleagues today, those who are coming or excuse their absence for reasons labor, there are magistrates of the TSJ, of the prosecutor's office, university professors, advisers in large companies, gurus of modernity, established opinion-makers in the media, artists in all spheres of culture, painting, letters, in the academies of good letters, of language, of history, prestigious professionals, researchers, deans of their professional associations, successful businessmen here and abroad, who continue to dress up as "crickets", to give free rein to their love of music and to cultivate the friendship forged throughout of the years.
Of course not daily, once a year, a trip, a contest, a dinner, a proclamation, And of those who have never asked or requested any subsidy to survive for eight centuries.
Spain, not only exported the language and religion, apart from the laws of the Indies, and freedom for the inhabitants of Hispanic America, manumitting slavery, in the fifteenth century, imagine!, also created the universities, and with them the tunas.
There are them in Mexico, the UNAM in the capital is a benchmark, but there are them in Veracruz, in Chiapas, throughout the territory, there where the Spanish built a university, there is a tuna, and there are many, Venezuela, Chile, Panama , Argentina, Peru, good tunas from Peru.
This weekend, in La Línea, next door, The 5th Ciudad de La Línea international tuna competition is being held, and there will be fourteen tunas, coming from all over Spain, including a Tuna from the University of La Laguna in Tenerife, and two Portuguese tunas, which also carry that tradition in their blood.
It will begin on Friday the 3rd, with the presentation and parade on Calle Real, around eight o'clock, and then on Saturday, there will be a colorful parade through the center starting at twelve o'clock, and a subsequent performance on the Paseíto Fariñas, on the stage set up for this purpose. .
At five o'clock, the contest will begin in the theater of the Salesianos School, whose alumni association organizes it, with the support of the City Council, and once it is finished, the tunas will tour the center singing and making friends, all within this student tradition with eight centuries of work behind him.
We hope you can attend this explosion of joy, which will dye the streets of the center of La Línea, with more than 400 tunos, and above all that you like it.