Longás, Bailo (Bailo, Arres, Larues, Paternoy, Arbues and Alastuey) and Las peñas de Riglos (Riglos, Ena, Centenero, Rasal, Salinas de Jaca, Santa María de la Peña, Sad, Yeste and Villalangua). Although the “Prepyrenees” have been considered so far, today there are many geologists who agree that it is “the Pyrenees”, without further ado. Therefore, we can say that it is located in the southwest of the Pyrenees of Huesca.

The bike tour will guide the story, and as it appears in the title, pardines and machine movements will usually play a leading role. Regarding the etymology of the word pardine, there are two hypotheses. The first is from the RAE, which says that it is a Aragonese word that comes from the Latin word Parietina and that it can be “deteriorated walls” and “low mountain of grasses”. The second is that of linguist Manuel Alvar, who claimed that the étimo was the word "pratu" in Latin: pratu > paratine > pardina, that is, he related it to the crow.

In any case, we can say that this is a pardine where agriculture and livestock are exploited. Typically, there were buildings in the main dwelling – where the Pardiners lived – and attached to it, which were working – farms, etc. Most of the time, they were located in places that were good observatories and the source was nearby.

Some Pardines had been villages in other times, so some have a church. Despite proof of its antiquity – in 1187, 238 villages in Huesca voted to San Indalecio, among which were some current Pardines – this route of the Pardinas, more or less, we will locate it from the Deamortization of Mendizábal from 1836 to 1950, in which most of them were emptied. Since 1941, the State Forest Heritage Site (PFE), after numerous expropriations, launched an intense replanting that drastically reduced grazing and imposed significant fines if the animals ate freshly planted pines. On the other hand, the industrialization initiated in the middle of the twentieth century ended that ancestral life.

As for the daily life of the Pardines, the base is the house, but as in so many places in the Basque Country, not only as construction, but as a social organization. In it, in general, they lived for three generations and were tenants in most cases, since the two disamortizations of the nineteenth century had, unfortunately, not put ownership of the pardines at the hands of farmers and farmers, but of members of the high nobility and the bourgeoisie. Along with the family, those raised in Aragonese, when they were young, were called repatanes, forgot to be day laborers and pastors. And besides these, in many Pardines there was some mutilation, the Tiones, in Aragonese.

On the lower floor of the houses were farms, pantry and kitchen. On the first floor, bedrooms, and on the ground floor, roof or barn. They didn't have electricity, and they used flashlights and lamps. As they were quite independent, most of them had an orchard and some had a hive, and hunting and fishing ensured their daily maintenance. However, in the health field, for example, to see the doctor, they had to go long distances. But they knew very well the medicinal herbs of the area, and there were known healers, for example, the tenant of the pardine of Samper Alto.

The Pardiners, unlike those of the masses of Teruel, were closely linked to their peoples of origin and did not suffer discrimination. In addition, many times, on the occasion of schooling, many children of pardiners stayed during the week in the villages, in the homes of their people.

Pardines focused on three areas of work: agriculture, mainly wheat and barley, livestock and forestry. In the case of livestock, it should be noted that the pastures were not only for the cattle of the pardiners, since in Huesca, unlike Zaragoza and Teruel, half of the cattle heads were transhumant and many shepherds, following the paths of sheep or goats, used this region as fall pastures (in Aragonese, Aborral) to move to the warmer Aragon lands of the south. This, of course, was an important source of income for the Pardiners.

By abrupt orography, by forest activity and by abrupt orography, the extent of forests was considerable, which must be taken into account long before the EBP began its revegetation process. At that time, wood was a fundamental raw material both for construction (beams...) and for the home (to feed the fire below, for cooking…). However, the exploitation of Aragonese wood at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century was not as effective as desired; in the 1930s there was a real impulse, both for the improvement of the railways and the road network.

BACK TO THE ASABON RIVER

The Asabón is one of the branches of Gállego and has its origin in the hill of Javier, in the border between the localities of Longás and Bailo, which is also border between Zaragoza and Huesca. At first, it takes west-east direction, passing through the Javarraz and Pequera parishes in this section. Then it moves south and, after passing by New Zealanders and Chaz pardin, it reaches the town of Villalangua. Before reaching the reservoir of La Peña, where it converges with the Galician River, it takes the waters of the streams of the Gabas and Paternoy roquedos.

The main pardines (see map) are as follows: Javarraz, Pequera, Nueva eciercos, Salafuentes, Montañano, Sierra Alta, Noamina -Corralón, Chaz, Ferrera, Gabas, Cercito, Rompesacos, Villamuerta, Esporret, Mesón del Cajicar, Bergosal, Lagé, Visabús, Samper and Alto.

In this tour we can remember some aspects of the guerrillas, since, although it seems to be a lie, there were more machines in the saws of Santo Domingo and Carbonera than in the Pyrenean border, both were meeting places of several brigades formed by guerrillas.

Starting point: Longas

The starting point is the town of Longás (840 m) of Zaragoza. If we leave Puente la Reina in Jaca, we have to take the A-132 towards the Valley and a few kilometers from there, cross a track of almost 15 kilometers unpaved. Despite being a town in Zaragoza, Longás has had a close historical relationship with Huesca: The villages of Sangorrín and Salafuentes, located in the area of Longás, were ruled by the monastery of San Juan de la Peña, which led to various administrative conflicts.

At the end of October 1944, two guerrillas were murdered and buried by the Franco police in the sarobe Planasuertes of Longás, in which their identity was never given nor registered in the civil registry. And in November of that same year, in November of that same year, two young machines entered the village asking for bread, thinking that there would be no danger, but one of them denounced them; the civil guards came and killed one of them. According to witnesses, the father and other son of the deceased returned to Longás in the early 1950s for revenge, but were eventually arrested and transferred to Sos.

The first 3-4 kilometers are made by the aforementioned runway and then you have to take to the right by the road of Sangorrín. After about four kilometers we will reach the collado of Xavier (1050 m.), on the border between Zaragoza and Huesca. In this area the Asabon River is born, and from there it will accompany us for a long time. After three kilometers down, we got to the first pardina.

San José (880 m)

It is very deteriorated and surrounded by braces, but it is located in a privileged place, in a high that is a beautiful viewpoint. The first mention dates from 1068. In 1663 he was the pardine corresponding to the Cathedral of Jaca and in 1863 he was in the hands of the Marquis de Ayerbe. By the way, this gentleman possessed so many pardines that, together with the monastery of San Juan de la Peña, they were the main owners of the area.

This pardine had large forests, so a lot of wood came out of it, and in the 1940s the Uros family had about 150 sheepheads. In addition, it had good fields and they mainly cultivated wheat and barley. Finally, Javarraz was emptied in 1958 and acquired by the PFE in 1965. It is currently a mountain for public use. Following the main road, two kilometers from there, is the second pardine.

Pequera (840 m)

It's 1720, so it's on the front. Most of the parishes – or at least the last reconstructions – date back to the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th. It is a long farm, made up of two houses. It has a small window and some experts affirm that it could have belonged to a church that once existed, since in some cases there were abandoned villages in places where the Pardinas were located. And Pequera was one of the 238 villages that in 1187 had voted for Saint Indalecio.

They had a great relationship with Javarraz and the pardine of New Zealanders, which I will talk about later, and as a curiosity, they had a grammar and used it especially in the slaughter of pigs (Aragonese, slaughter) and others. In 1960 the Izuel family sold it to the PFE, and today, like Javarra, it is a mountain of public use belonging to the municipality of Bailo.

At about 500 meters, leaving the Asabon River in the west-east direction, it moves to the south, and we, along with it, will take the right at the junction and leave the track that goes to Santa Barbara, which by itself unites Bailo and Longás. After two kilometers of unevenness, we reached the third pardine.

El Camino (780 m)

Despite being completely damaged, it is still possible to distinguish between the stable and the dwelling, which retains a small dome for the bread oven. Nine Eciercos was one of the 238 towns that voted in 1187 for St. Indalecio. In 1800, a family lived there, owned by the convent of Santo Domingo de Jaca. In 1863, the owners of the house López de Concilio remained in possession for seven generations. By the way, the Lopez family owned so many Parishes.

In 1959, the last owner sold it to the PFE, and it is currently a public use hill belonging to the municipality of Bailo. By the way, this family moved to the house Pequera del Bailo, and since then it has been known as the New York House. We will follow the Asabon River and cross it occasionally. Then, after a three-kilometre stretch, we will also descend the slope to the Pardina de Chaz.

Chaz or Jaz (700 m)

This locality was also originally ancient, as it appears in a donation to the monastery of San Juan de la Peña in 1134. In 1601 the owner was Pedro de Urries, and in 1743 he was in the hands of one of the main owners mentioned in the plant: Marquesado de Ayerbe.

It is an L-shaped building complex, attached to it by a yard with a western deck around a partially closed patio. On either side of the L are the stables and buildings for animals. The high altitude truncated fireplace stands out, in Aragonese, chaminera.

As this pardine is located in a flat confluence of two streams, it was said that it possessed better lands than the surrounding pardines, and a well-known song of the time said: “In Nofuentes the gallo sings; in Corralón the hen; and in the pardine of Chaz the clavelins flourish”.

The Sanclemente family lived there for a long time, from the end of the 19th century until 1974. They were very related to the pardines of the area (Corralón, Montañano and Ferrera), and, unlike most of the pardines, they had the electricity of Chaz, which allowed them to survive in it until very little time.

The current owner is the Coarasa family, and although pardine is not damaged, it seems that it is rather abandoned. It has about 500 hectares and is located in the municipality of Bailo.

As for the presence of machines, two small issues. On 14 March 1947, four guerrillas belonging to a group of guerrillas in the Cordillera de Santo Domingo went down to Chaz to collect three shotguns, two hams and other food, and on 22 July of that same year, guerrillas returning to Biarno took the 2,000 pesetas that would help them on the trip to pardine.

Now, on the right, the road slowly rises following the Fontanizas River; after two and a half kilometers, we reached the Corralón pardine.

Corralón (780 m) and Nofuentes (950 m)

In fact, this pardine is fully connected to that of Nofuentes (950 m), as it can be said that it is the only pardine formed by the two houses.

Corralón, actually, is divided into two houses, each with its entrance and its stairs. A family that had lived in this house in the early 20th century had previously been working at a Maule's pargat factory, like so many people in Jazetia.

In 1955, the Pardina of Nofuentes was acquired by the PFE and, as has already been said, also that of Corralón, had to be abandoned by the last family living in it. A curiosity: The mayor of the town, Biel, tried several times to recover the forage debt that his people had incurred in Nofuentes. This Foral Office was an old right, according to which the inhabitants of a municipality could bring their animals to pastures of another neighbouring municipality, but only for the day (“from sun to sun and from age to age” and hence the name “alera”).

At present, the Noamina Corralón Pardinas are part of the Community of Aragon and are used both for hunting and for food.

Particularly noteworthy is the role played by the guerrillas against Franco, whose tenants, the Cirés family, were fierce collaborators of the machines. Starting in the autumn of 1944, he gave the guerrilla brigades extraordinary support on his way south. It should be remembered that the guerrillas intended to group in the Sierra de Santo Domingo the three main brigades of division 186 that came from the border: the first one passed through Roncal; the second one departed from Forges d´Abel and used the passage of Escalé; and the third one, through the border of Bielsa.

The main collaborator of this family was Florencio Cirés, founded in 1917, El chaval de Nofuentes. The curious thing is that in the War of 1936 he acted in the Franco army, and after being wounded in the war he was awarded the medal of honor, which, with a certain degree of accuracy, blurred all his suspicions.

The fact is that in October 1945, five guerrillas who headed for Santo Domingo crossed the border by the collado de Portiello d’o Risté, in Leskun, and headed towards Oza. The worst of the stages was always the crossing of the Aragon River, as there were many Franco-Falangist spies around it. They finally managed to make their way and found a good hiding place in the south of Arbues. And the following nights they spent in Nofuentes, thanks to the hospitality of Florencio.

In addition, that man had done many liaison works, because he knew all the corners perfectly. And it must also be borne in mind that in the house of the Ciresa many civil guards slept, so the risk they assumed was very high.

It is said, for example, that one night in Corralón there were civil guards on the ground floor and machines on the roof; and some witnesses say that the Cisubs drove the cattle along the way that the machines used to erase footprints.

But finally, Florencio was arrested by the civil guards in Zaragoza, where he came with the intention of handing a letter to the resistance. After some time he was released, but never returned to Nofuentes, and remained under a kind of vigilance at the Gurrea de Gállego. And the civil governor managed to expel almost the entire Cirés family from Nofuentes, the only ones who could stay there because of the age of Florencio's parents. However, after the sale of their last possessions, they moved to Sabiñánigo, where they died in 1972.

After knowing the last part of this tour, the road ascends to Santo Domingo, and then leaves the mountain range to the left and reach a hill at 1,145 meters, towards Longáse, in order to complete the circular. Then, a three-kilometer descent has been made and the circuit has been completed.

We leave the Protected Landscape of Santo Domingo and there is still a 10-kilometer way to go back to Longás.

It's been a journey to a not-so-distant past that has offered some of the aspects we like the most: loneliness, silence, seemingly vulgar and above all naughty orography that fortunately will never rise to Instagram, the songs of birds, cows and mares that appear by chance, the fine whisper of the Asabon River, the dominance of the pines of replanting, the Roman bluffs and the false rumors

Books to delve into the topic:

- the parishes of the Asabon River (Chronicles of a forgotten world). Oscar Martín. Diputación de Huesca, 2017.

In the past, the friars of San Juan de la Peña dominated all the lands and villages around the Asabón River. Over the centuries, many of them became “pardines,” land cultivated by people who lived in solitude.

- When the machines: guerrillas and border crossings in the Western Pyrenees. Luis Pérez de Berasaluce. Self-publishing 2018.

The anti-Francoist guerrillas in the Western Pyrenees, Aragon, Navarre and Occitania carried out until the 1950s an enormous amount of work to cross the border and distribute weapons and propaganda. This book tells about everything that happened in the mountains of Santo Domingo and Carbonera.

[This article has been published in the special journal of page 2024 108 of the ARGIA Keys. People will receive LIGHT on paper or in PDF, depending on their choice. If you haven’t taken the step yet, do ARGIA and we’ll send it to you with great pleasure! The rest you can buy at the Azoka]