Vicente Sartorius, 4th Marquess of Mariño

Vicente Sartorius y Cabeza de Vaca, 4th Marquess of Mariño was a Spanish nobleman and Olympic bobsledder. He was born in Madrid.

San Fermín Festival Attire

The traditional San Fermín festival outfit of white clothes and red sash became popular in the 1930s. The red sash measures 2.5 meters long and 12 centimeters wide.

Painted Stocking Seams

Women who could not afford real stockings sometimes painted a line down the back of their legs with eyeliner to simulate a seam.

Christmas music and nativity traditions

Christmas celebrations featured midnight masses where people sang villancicos, and homes were decorated with elaborate nativity scenes called nacimientos instead of Christmas trees. Children received their gifts on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany, brought by the Three Kings.

Women as keepers of oral tradition

Women were the primary custodians of oral musical traditions, singing specialized songs for every life stage, including lullabies, youth courting rounds, weddings, and funeral laments. Professional female mourners were hired to sing at funerals and also went door-to-door on All Souls' Eve to collect money for masses.

A creative journey by sexticycle

In 1927, playwright Jardiel Poncela invented a "sexticycle"—three bicycles joined together—and traveled 314 kilometers from Zaragoza to Madrid in eleven days.

Moving livestock by train across Spain

Transhumant shepherds moved thousands of sheep by train between Babia and Cáceres, a 430-kilometer journey that took two days by rail, whereas moving them on foot would take much longer.

Child labor and limited schooling access

Poorer girls often worked as domestic servants for as little as one peseta a month plus food, while others stayed home to embroider or care for younger siblings instead of attending school. Schooling was frequently interrupted by teacher changes or seasonal farm work, with some children walking over two hours to attend.

Daily chores and crowded home life

Cooking was done over wood or straw fires in small kitchens, and many children had to leave school as early as age seven to help with farm work, such as sifting straw or guarding cattle. Domestic life was often crowded, with multiple generations and up to eleven people sharing small stone houses.

Desperate sources of protein

Food shortages were so severe that some people resorted to eating animals like cats, donkeys, or dogs, which were passed off as rabbit or lamb.

Creative substitutions for scarce food

Ordinary families survived by using culinary imagination to simulate scarce items, such as making omelets without eggs using bread and onions.

Average daily wages in 1928

In 1928, the average Spanish worker earned about 0.50 pesetas per hour, or 4 pesetas for a full day's work.

Black market prices in 1938

During the scarcity of 1938, officially priced goods were unavailable; a dozen eggs officially cost 17.50 pesetas but sold for 110 on the black market.

Low wages for long hours in Madrid

In 1932, young girls in Madrid earned 3.75 pesetas for a 12-hour day sewing clothes in poorly ventilated rooms. This was often the only way for families to afford basic survival, as a modest meal already cost two pesetas.

Women's endless home-based work

Many women worked at home as seamstresses or ironers, often converting their houses into workshops to avoid neglecting family duties. This work was typically done at a piece-rate, leading to endless working days for very low pay.