A journey into the past that aims to give value to the place deserved by hundreds of women from the valleys of Salazar, Roncal, Echo… who crossed the Pyrenees on foot to reach Mauleón (Zuberoa). They travelled to work in the espadrille factories in the area, and did so for almost a century. Hundreds of women, even girls, who at the age of 12 left their families, their villages, to earn a few Francs by working up to sixteen hours a day.
They set out every 7th of October, and did not return until half a year later, when the spring snows were over. These very characteristics of their journey, together with the fact that they were all dressed in black, led to their being known as Golondrinas.
Anne Etchegoyen takes us on a journey that leads us to discover who the swallows were. A path that united two very different Europes at the end of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century.