Nightlife:
Spaniards often start the evening with el paseo, a leisurely stroll
through the main streets. A café terrace is an excellent vantage point to
observe this tradition, or enjoy street theatre in the larger cities. The
atmosphere is especially vibrant at fiesta time, or when the local football team
has won, when celebrations are marked by a cacophony of car horns, firecrackers
and a sea of flags and team regalia. Tapas bars offer delicious snacks in a
relaxed, enjoyable setting and it is fun to try out several bars in one night.
The nightclubs of the Costa del Sol have attracted the attention of the
international media, but the variety on offer caters for most tastes. Things
work up to la marcha (good fun) relatively late and it is possible to dance
literally until dawn. Flamenco or other regional dancing displays provide an
alternative for those who prefer to watch dancing.
Most
festivals in Spain are religious in origin, but nowadays the religious component
is usually secondary to the general spirit of celebration. Spain has dozens of
festivals and most towns have their own in addition to the national ones.
Listed below are several of
the more important festivals:
January
Reyes Magos, known as the
Epiphany in English, is celebrated throughout Spain on January 6. Gifts are
distributed and the evening of January 5 is a time of tremendous excitement for
children. Floats, bands and dancers take to the streets of the major towns and
cities.
February
Carnivals are held
throughout Spain at Shrovetide before Lent.
Pero Palo celebrations are
held in Caceres, Extremadura late in February. The community gathers to share
old traditions and legends.
March
Semana Santa or Easter Holy
Week is one of the most important festivals in Spain. Processions and concerts
are held throughout the country. Seville's Semana Santa is one of Spain's most
enjoyable festivals.
April
An April Fair is held in
Seville.
Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos,
also known as the Moors and Christians, is celebrated across Spain. Alcoy in
Alicante puts on an interesting display with battles, processions, speeches,
plays and dances. Groups of Moors and Christians drive through the town
accompanied by noisy bands. A battle ensues accompanied by fireworks and the
ringing of bells.
May
Crosses of flowers are set
up throughout the village of Cieza, in Murcia, on Dia de la Cruz or Holy Cross
day.
A procession to celebrate
Corpus Christi is held in Toledo.
June
The pagan festival of
Hogueras de San Juan is held . The streets are often decorated with branches and
leaves, straw effigies are burnt, pilgrimages are undertaken, the herb thyme is
blessed and sanjuanera songs are sung.
July
The immensely exciting
Fiesta de San Fermin, or the Running of the Bulls, is held in Pamplona early in
July.
August
On the north coast, Semana
Grande is held during August.
September
For three days during the Festival Internacional de Folklore en el Mediterraneo
(International Festival of Mediterranean Folklore) you can experience the songs,
traditions, dances, dresses and general folklore of many Mediterranean cultures.
Fiestas de la Vendimia Riojana, also known as the La Rioja Wine Festival,
centres around the harvesting of the grapes.
October
The feast of El Pilar is held in Zaragoza, Aragon
TILE ROCIO PILGRIMAGE
Towards
the end of May, El Rocio pilgrimage each year assembles nearly one million
people in a small hamlet in the Guadalquivir marshes where, since 1280, an image
of Virgin del Rocio (Our Lady of the Dew) has been venerated. Pilgrims on foot,
on horseback or in carts and from all over Spain, transform the scenery of the
area into a landscape full of colour and animation.
CORPUS CHRISTI
Corpus
Christi (feast of the body of Christ, Thursday after Trinity Sunday)(June) is
the only day of the year, which the consecrated host is exposed out of doors, in
a solemn and brilliant procession. This celebration is general, the one in
Granada standing out particularly for its beauty. This feast is an express
representation of the old pact between Church and State, where all the civilian
and religious representatives walk along the street in a kind of sweet-smelling
cyprus and flowers. Granada is widely decked out for Corpus Christi and there
are, furthermore, other attractions and spectacles during this special
commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist, celebrated for the first time
in Leige in 1246, and quickly adopted throughout Europe.
OTHER
FAIRS IN SPRING
Virgin de la Cabeza (Our Lady of the Head) in Andujar in the province of Jaen. It takes place over the last weekend in April. At this celebration that goes back to the 13th century, half a million people assemble to see the Virgin being taken in procession on the shoulders of the faithful for 30kms.
Virgen
de Setefilla at Lora del Rio in the province of Sevillia.
Cabra
Gypsy Festival, province of Cordoba by Gypsies to the hermitage of Santa Maria
San Isidro on 15th May, patron of farmers, many rural communities in Andalucia
have festivities which may be combined with agricultural trade shows.
El Cristo del Pano (Christ of the Cloth) at Moclin in the province of Granada.
La Virgen del Mar (Our Lady of the Sea) patroness of Almeria, the image is taken in a carnage decorated with flowers from its church to the hermitage and the culminating point is when she is taken from the lighthouse to the dock by boat.
La Virgen del Carmen, is the
patroness of sailors, on 16th July, all coastal towns and villages take out
their images in procession on the sea among decorated boats of all sorts among
the blowing of horns accompanied sometimes by fireworks
CADIZ
CARNIVAL
Of
the many popular feasts, the Carnival at Cadiz, imported from Venice in the 16th
century through this busy port, is one of the most dazzling and ingenious of
those celebrated in Andalucia and, no doubt, in all Spain. Depending on the
liturgical calender, it takes place between 5th February and 4th March.
The
entire province celebrates carnival at the same time, the more outstanding are
those at El Puerto de Santa Mafia, Rota, San Fernando, Chiicana, Algeciras,
Medina-Sidonia and Trebujena. In the province of Huelva, those of Isla Cristina
and Ayamonte are known for their remarkable fancy dresses and animation and they
are very popular with the neighbours and with the Portuguese across the border.
Feasts with the “toros embolaos” are very popular in Cadiz.
EASTER
WEEK- SEMANA SANTA
Easter
week is the most outstanding celebration, with beautiful processions and images,
specially of the Passion of Jesus Christ and the Virgin, that are taken through
the streets amid popular devotion. The different fraternities responsible for
these processions in each town represent the social and professional sectors.
The most outstanding Easter week processions are those of Seville, Malaga and
Cordoba, though the spectacle is tremendously interesting everywhere, and so are
the more sober expressions of towns in this sierra.
SEVILLE
SPRING FAIR
The
April Fair started in Seville in 1847 perfectly suits Andalucian idosyncracy, it
has spread widely in the region. A few days after the Seville Fair, Jerez holds
its Horse Fair, where the best specimens of the whole area are on show;
thereafter comes the Fair of Manzanilla at Sanlucar de Barrameda, also in the
province of Cadiz.
CORDOBA MAY FAIR
A
month of festivities in the city, starting with the Crosses of May and then
followed by the courtyard contest -
a competition to find the best-decorated courtyard with flowers. Obtain
a map from the tourist office and visit the houses on the list.