ROBAFAVES
Robafaves de Mataró is a giant with a robust face, tall and big, with a medieval warrior's garment (helmet, cloak, coat of mail, sword...), which is inspired by the figure and character of King Jaume I the Conqueror. On his chest he wears three or four medals, depending on the occasion, and on his left hand, he wears a scroll (in which the legend of his name is explained), while on his right hand he takes his cloak.
The construction of the current Robafaves was commissioned to Josep Maria Diamant y Montañés in 1964, who created new polyester volumes to reduce weight and improve strength.
In 1984, Mataró City Council approved a new regulation, and the Giants are included as part of the city's public heritage and its institutional representation, which is why an important process of innovations in the figure aspect is being carried out. Robafaves passes through the Solsonencs workshop of Manel Casserres, who maintains the metallic structures but makes a complete remodelling of the appearance using the cardboard again for the head and hands, without leaving the fibreglass. A new wardrobe is also made, recalling the style of the 1950s by Llorenç Illa, despite the fact that in 1992 Manuel Casserres himself renovated the wardrobe again.
In 2014 the Town Hall of Mataró renovates the Robafaves wardrobe with Manuel Casserres, who opts for a line of continuous wardrobe, without major changes.
Robafaves dances to the sound of "flabiolaires" in the parades and the sleeping ones. In "la Dormida", Robafaves dances with Geganta "La Masurca", the repertoire of "flabiolaire" Quirze Perich. Then, she dances with Geganta, Toneta and Maneló "El Baile de Cuatro" by Carles Arabia. All the dances are a choreography of Montserrat Calsapeu.
Acts in which it participates: Robafaves participates in the majority of acts of "Les Santes" of Mataró, Festa Major de Mataró; la Crida, el Desvetllament Bellugós, l’Anada a Ofici, la Passada, Anada a la Residència Sant Josep, el No n’hi ha prou, l’Anem a tancar i and also goes out for the Day of Sant Jordi.
The legend of Robafaves de Mataró
Once the giants of Mataró`s went dancing in Argentona and once the party was over, returning home, the carriers fell in love with some beautiful beans that greened in a field near the road. They couldn't resist the temptation to take them, they abandoned the figures in the middle of the road and jumped into the field to steal a good number of beans, which they hid under the giant's skirt. They made an agreement with the flabiolaire and told him that they would go halfway, but not to discover them. At Mataró's entrance, a gang of young people surrounded the gigantic couple and, insistently, asked them to dance. The carriers resisted because, with the overload of beans, they could not dance. An authority nearby made them dance and as they danced, the beans fell to the ground as they were shaking. The admiration and the joke were so great that since then, the poor giant, who was not to blame for anything, was left with the name Robafaves.
