In the small Galician village of Bravos, José Francisco Fernández Fernández, better known as Paquiño, has become the last guardian of a vanishing tradition. At 63, he maintains and operates threshing machines that have survived more than a century, bringing them to life each summer for the Festa da Malla de Galdo in Viveiro. But as fewer people can handle these complex, heavy machines, Paquiño increasingly fears their legacy will end with him.
Paquiño’s connection to the malla runs deep. His father spent four decades traveling from village to village with these machines, once transported by oxen and cows. Today, tractors have replaced livestock, but moving the massive equipment, with some pieces weighing over a ton, still takes a coordinated effort from more than twenty people. Paquiño no longer grows wheat himself, largely because of wild boar damage, but he preserves the knowledge and skills needed to keep the machinery running.
Tradition Under Threat
The Festa da Malla de Galdo, revived in 2024 by Luis Pérez and Carmen Gabilondo of Panadería de Galdo, has become a focal point for this endangered craft. The bakery, established in 1961, began cultivating its own wheat and organized the first festival that September. By 2025, over forty locals from Viveiro and Ourol had joined the effort, but finding enough hands and expertise remains a pressing challenge. Paquiño agreed to take part on the condition that he would get help transporting and assembling the machines. That task grows harder each year as the rural population shrinks.
The festival recreates the full process. The machinery is set up, and grain is separated from chaff. Flour is then milled before the bread is baked. This chain of work connects Galdo’s event to other projects across Galicia that aim to keep artisanal bread-making alive. Yet, as Paquiño points out, too few young people are willing or able to learn these skills, putting the tradition at risk. Other trades face similar concerns. In marble working, decades of expertise could be lost without new apprentices.
Documenting a Disappearing World
This year, filmmaker Borja Zausen captured Paquiño’s story in a documentary simply titled “Paquiño.” The film follows the ancient machines from assembly to operation, then through dismantling, offering a rare glimpse into the labor and coordination involved. Its screening during the festival moved many in the audience to tears, a response that reflected the emotional weight of a tradition on the brink of extinction. Zausen had previously chronicled the revival of the malla in his 2025 film “La Malla” and earlier documented the Panadería de Galdo in “Oda al Pan de Galdo.”
Rural Decline and the Future
The threat to Galdo’s malla is inseparable from the wider problem of rural depopulation. O Rego da Ponte once had around forty residents; today, only five or six remain. “The youngest here are my wife and me,” Paquiño says, pointing to the difficulty of passing on knowledge in an aging, shrinking community. Official statistics from the Instituto Galego de Estatística put Ourol’s population at 965 in 2025, with an average age of 56.11 years. That year, the municipality recorded one birth and twenty deaths.
For Paquiño, involving children and young people in the festival is impressive to keeping the memory of the malla alive. This year, he was especially pleased to see children help carry straw and take part in the work. “You have to teach it so it’s not lost,” he insists. As long as he can move the machines and find support, he plans to continue his role in the Festa da Malla de Galdo.
The struggle to preserve agricultural heritage is not unique to Galicia. In France, for example, a farmer’s decision to give away surplus potatoes led to unexpected consequences, as reported by RUSSPAIN. The episode points to the new pressures facing rural traditions and livelihoods across Europe.
