Hortera seems like a neologism. But it is not at all. The word arose in the 17th century to identify the young people who worked as clerks in pharmacies (the mancebos) in Madrid. Although they dressed terrible (they survived on salaries of laughter and used to go dirty, like foxes), their alias was not due to their appearance but to the bowl, the tacky, where they made the mixtures of the recipes and magisterial formulas.
Then if. The term tacky (translating it into any other language is an impossible mission) has served to point out those who dress in bad taste and, by extension, those who act in a tacky way. It's tacky to elbow your way into the elevator. Present yourself as an expert winemaker if you don't even know how to hold the glass. Do not look into the eyes of your interlocutor. Eat with your elbows on the table and your face buried in your mobile. Crush the staff with watsaps. Paying two thousand euros for Motomami's signed shirt... F ucking money man... But you can also be a tacky by choice, something like a tacky with (questionable) style.
Just today Horteralia starts at Ifema in Madrid. It is the event that, to the rhythm of convinced cult tackies such as Ojete Calor, Nancys Rubias and Leonardo Dantés, boasts on its poster of being "the festival that breaks corduroy". Two days of celebration that are lost, in addition to all those who have preferred the derby, the first authorities of the capital, Ayuso and Almeida who are received by the Pope in the Vatican on the occasion of the holy year of San Isidro.
How to introduce yourself to the biggest festival of tacky people? The sign gives instructions such as “bring out that old fanny pack, the eskai vest... Long live mustaches, bowl haircuts and white socks. And Franki, the Sprinter and the Carrefour, the Sunday tracksuits, the blonde dyes, the malina hair gel...”. And, of course, Madrid is going full throttle today with all that (more than usual), but also with bagpipes and bagpipers. There are more than 300 and they have arrived in procession (by coaches) to the capital to celebrate San Patricio with parades, a battle of the bands and a final concert. Who knows if capable of overshadowing those of the already deeply rooted Horteralia.
