Festival Mata en Larache: diálogo cultural entre los pueblos
Nabil Baraka affirms that the Mata Festival aims to become a Spanish-Moroccan-African space for cultural, ecological and social exchange that will serve as a reference to strengthen the bonds of collaboration. The head of this important social and cultural event, in the heart of the countryside of the province of Larache, in the north of Morocco, stresses the integrating nature of the event, where horses and food products from the area play the leading role with a massive participation of the inhabitants of the region.
The tenth edition of the Mata International Equestrian Festival, organised under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, kicked off on the evening of Friday 30 September 2022 in Madashar al-Zunaid, as an annual tradition that has been organised by the Scientific Society for Social and Cultural Works every year after the end of the agricultural harvest season.
Its celebration was delayed for three months in solidarity with the victims and victims of the fires in the region before the summer. It was preserved by the inhabitants of the mountainous region led by the Baraka family, as intangible heritage, with a remarkable historical spiritual character, weaving the culture of caring for the woman, the "Mata" bride. More than 160 jockeys riding in a race to win the rag doll made by the women of Beni Arous. In these lands, the horse is of the utmost importance and there is no greater glory than participating in the Mata Festival and managing to capture the doll.
This ancestral festival, which combines rural tradition with sustainable development, brings together the Moroccan authorities led by the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, the Wali of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, Mohammed Mahdia, the governor of the Larache region, the head of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al-Hoceima region, the head of the commune of Aicha, and the heads of security and regional interests, along with various personalities from Spain, Mauritania and other African countries. An event that has managed to be nominated as Cultural and World Heritage by UNESCO.
This tenth edition represents a heartfelt tribute to the late patriarch of the family, Abdeladi Baraka, host for many years. His son Nabil has inherited the responsibility and commitment to keep this equestrian festival alive, as well as the leadership of Chorfa Alamin as Sufi master.
"My father passed on the spiritual and cultural values of tolerance, openness and we in the family have been brought up with these values which we will preserve," he says. "People want to meet again, to get to know each other after years of COVID. We see with satisfaction that there are many young people on horseback integrating into the tradition and guaranteeing their future because they can do what they like and what suits them best, such as horse breeding", he stresses without hiding his pride, while pointing out that another objective is "to make this area an ecological tourist region and a meeting place between Spain, Morocco and other African countries".
Nabil Baraka explains that "we must promote the bridge that Spain and Morocco represent as a gateway to Europe for Africans and a gateway to Africa for Europeans. The common historical ties allow us to work in this direction, bringing the two cultures and ecological interests such as animal care closer together". The Sufi leader in Morocco favours inter-religious dialogue as a means of understanding and coexistence, as demonstrated by the presence of the Archbishop of Tangiers at the inauguration of the Mata Festival among the authorities.
"Respect, tolerance and coexistence between religions form part of the legacy inherited and which it is essential to maintain and promote, as is being demonstrated by the implementation of the Abraham Accords between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel, which have been joined by other countries such as Morocco. The points of these agreements include all sectors of the societies of these countries and represent a substantial change throughout the Middle East, and for Morocco it represents the continuity and coherence of its good relationship with the Jewish community", assures Baraka, who encourages everyone to approach and get to know a country like Morocco and reaffirms his conviction of the need to improve relations between Spain and Morocco as much as possible: "We are proud to be friends of Spain, to increase collaboration because I believe that the future of Morocco and Spain is united, they can do many things together and their interests are common".
