Oral History Interview - Xosé Antonio Guede Cid

In this extensive life-history interview, lifelong resident Xosé Antonio Guede Cid
recounts his personal and communal experiences in the village of Santa Mariña de
Augas Santas (Allariz, Galicia). His narrative traverses themes of migration, rural labor,
faith, and memory, interweaving the rhythms of daily life with the enduring devotion to
Santa Mariña.
He describes his early years in Laioso, his migration to the Basque Country during
Franco’s era, and his eventual return to Galicia to care for family and work in local
industry. The conversation moves from personal biography to collective memory —
highlighting the decline of rural life, changes in parish structures, and shifts in
generational religiosity.
A central thread is his devotion to Santa Mariña, expressed through oral storytelling,
participation in parish rituals, and his role in the annual Ascensión festival and
community theater reenacting the saint’s life. Particularly notable is his testimony of a
miraculous escape from a falling tree branch, recorded in the parish book — a
moment he interprets as divine intervention.
The interview preserves the spoken Galician of Ourense, offering linguistic, cultural,
and ethnographic insight into local religious practice, memory transmission, and
community resilience in post-industrial rural Galicia.