The Malaga parade of 1789
The parade opened with eight drummers (batidores) from the Farnese Cavalry Regiment. They were responsible for opening a path among the immense bustle, filling the air with the sound of two bugles.
Behind them came the first great figure, the allegory of Fame, a symbol of the renown that the Catholic Monarchs had accumulated over time. She was accompanied by two footmen (volantes) and behind them, another body made up of twelve angels, twenty-four footmen dressed in the Spanish style and ten more in typical eighteenth century dress.
They were followed by the Corps of Master Craftsmen with 30 participants. Sixteen dancers continued the procession, dancing and playing music with the bells they carried in the shape of castanets. Behind them were four Body Guards (guardias de corps) mounted on richly dressed and well-equipped horses.
Next, the parade of 'false gods': Pan, Abundancia, Baco, Discordia, Plutón, Proserpina, Esculapio, Flora, Mercurio, Belona, Marte, Minerva, Apis, Diana, Cupido, Venus, Apolo, Astrea, Usa, Ceres, Saturno, Vesta. They represented twenty-four Greco-Roman gods pretending to be chained, with lengths of chains that hung down to the ground from their shoulders. Two other deities followed them, Jupiter and Juno who were attached to a triumphal chariot. The chariot was large in length, height and width. It exalted the figure of the monarch with a magnificent portrait. On the chariot rode the allegories of Faith and Fortitude, portrayed by two children.
In addition to all these characters, the triumphal chariot was accompanied on the right side by an Esento (a official guard of Corps) and on the left side by a Cavalryman. Behind marched the officer Brigadier and twelve Corps Guards. Lastly, bringing up the rear was the Subrigadier Officer. Behind them marched the company of Grenadiers of the Regiment of Navarre playing their own music and then a wagon with four black-skinned figures dressed in pink ropones decorated in silver and girded with blue sashes and red buttons. The cortege was closed by thirty soldiers of the Cavalry of the Regiment of Farnese.