"I remembered another childhood game, that you may find useful. It's called 'Martin Pescador', and it either originated in Northern Spain or Portugal. It is also similar to the American game 'Red Rover, Red Rover'. And just in case you don't know what the name means, a Martin Pescador is a kingfisher [bird]." -Oscar

Game Instructions

"The set up is as follows: there is a line of children, and two others, previously chosen (usually the biggest either by age or size) stand perpendicular to the line holding hands, creating a 'bridge' (which is more like a toll booth on the highway). The 'toll-takers', according to what I was told, for I did not remember it myself, are each an angel and the devil. [The part about angel and devil is that the two kids chosen at the beginning decide between themselves who will be the angel and who will be the devil but they don't tell anyone. Then they choose two names of flowers, fruit or something else. They'll ask the other kids to choose between the two things - rose and carnation, for example, but only after the tug of war will the players know with which one (angel or devil) they actually sided.]

The line approaches and the first child says: 'Martín Pescador, ¿me deja pasar?' In response, one of the kids holding hands says: 'Pasará, pasará, pero el último quedará.' And so it continues until the whole line goes through, until the last one, who is stopped by the toll takers and asked to chose one or the other. Again, I was told that the question is which they chose, 'una rosa o un clavel'. Then according to their choice they stand behind whomever they chose. And so it goes until all of them have chosen one side or the other. At the end, the game is decided by a tug-of-war, which decides whether the winner is the angel or the devil." -Oscar

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Oscar Teliz for sharing this game and explaining how to play it!