“Son Para Recordar”: traditional music from Palencia on Wikimedia Commons 

Since March 2024, the Tradiciones Vivas Association of Palencia has been promoting an exciting project to recover the province’s sound heritage: Son Para Recordar (Sound to Remember), through Wikimedia Commons. This initiative pays tribute to both the traditional sounds of the land and to the people who, with their voices, their instruments, or their fieldwork, contributed to preserving a fundamental part of the collective memory. 

The project was born from the interest of Samuel Villarrubia, one of the members of the Carrión Folk band, in recovering repertoire for his performances. Along the way, he came across the recordings of the Joaquín Díaz Foundation, which sparked a question: why wasn’t there more material accessible on Wikimedia Commons? How could all those tapes and voices not be lost in oblivion? 

Son Para Recordar and Wikimedia Commons 

With this motivation, he began a self-taught process of uploading audio files to Wikimedia Commons. The work has required more than 100 hours, not counting the many hours spent listening to and carefully selecting each recording. Today, the audio files available on the platform include traditional songs, stories of rural life, and local celebrations, performed on a tambourine, dulzaina, or tabor, and accompanied by an interactive map with their geographical origin. 

Currently, work on Wikimedia Commons is primarily done by one person, although Alfonso Abad, also a member of Carrión Folk, has recently joined the group. He has begun digitizing recordings collected by his father, folklorist Pedro Pablo. The project continues to grow with new contributions, and plans to add more than 50 recordings from areas such as La Pernía and Aguilar de Campoo. 

Keeping the tradition alive 

The Tradiciones Vivas Association emphasizes that the ultimate goal is to give back to the people what is theirs: their history, their songs, their way of understanding life. In the words of those behind it, “I can’t find a better way to do something for humanity than by making known what we were, in case one day this society wants to once again enjoy the good times our ancestors had”. 

“Son Para Recordar” is not just a digitization project, but a broader commitment to keeping tradition alive. It also includes the re-recording of audio recordings with musical arrangements, the recovery of local dances, the promotion of dulzaina and traditional music schools, and other actions aimed at revitalizing Palencia folklore. 

At Wikimedia Spain, we can only applaud and support initiatives like “Son Para Recordar.” In this way, Wikimedia Commons becomes a key tool to ensure that this legacy is not only preserved, but also freely shared with the world. A small, great window to the past, open to the future.