Between February 27 and March 1, one of the most traditional popular festivals in the country is held in the town of La Banda, in the province of Santiago del Estero, in the north of Argentina: the Salamanca 2020 National Festival. La Salamanca is a legendary place that appears in many Spanish-American legends.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, it referred to a cave where initiation rites were performed.
But with the arrival of Christianity, the legend merges with the European and Christian beliefs of those spaces being linked to "evil" and "sin".
And since then, it has been known that the salamanca is a cave that can only be accessed by those who are willing to give up their souls in exchange for power, luxury, pleasures and above all, "magic" and talent in playing instruments, dancing or taming horses.
This is a place where witches and demons live, and the devil can appear before his chosen one in the form of a gaucho dressed in fine clothes, wearing a shiny, silver belt.
Nowadays, the Salamanca represents every space where party, music and fun are guaranteed, where social boundaries fade away. And this festivity is taking place in the oldest Argentine city: Santiago del Estero.