Fiestas, holidays and traditions explained

If you think Spaniards celebrate every weekend, on this coast you are not far off. Almost every week there is a fiesta somewhere, from a village saint’s day to a feast that shuts down an entire city for a week. These are the traditions to know, and when to catch them.

Hogueras de San Juan (Alicante, June)

Alicante’s big feast, around the shortest night of the year. Neighbourhood associations spend months building towering statues of wood and papier-mâché, often mocking politics and current affairs. On 24 June at midnight they all go up in flames, the cremà, while the fire brigade hoses down the facades and the crowd dances around them. The days before: parades, fireworks at two in the afternoon (the mascletà) and streets full of long tables.

Moros y Cristianos (all over the region)

Not a folklore parade but days-long street theatre in which the Moorish and Christian history of the region is re-enacted, with hundreds of participants in costumes that took a year to sew. The most famous is Alcoy’s in April; on the coast, Villajoyosa goes one better in late July with a landing of Moorish boats on the beach at sunrise.

Misteri d’Elx (Elche, August)

In the basilica of Elche, a sung mystery play about the Assumption of Mary has been performed since the Middle Ages, with singers descending on ropes from the dome. UNESCO put it on the World Heritage list. Tickets are scarce; the dress rehearsals are a good alternative.

The calendar in brief

• 5 and 6 January: Reyes, Three Kings. Spain’s gift-giving night, with parades where sweets rain from the floats.
• March and April: Semana Santa, the silent processions of Holy Week.
• June: Hogueras in Alicante and St John’s bonfires on beaches along the whole coast.
• July: Moros y Cristianos in Villajoyosa; Virgen del Carmen, the fishermen’s feast, in the harbour towns.
• August: Misteri d’Elx; village feasts in nearly every inland village.

How to join in

You do not watch a fiesta; you stand in the middle of it. Ask at your accommodation when the neighbourhood holds its feast, buy something at the association’s stall and stay put when the music passes. And plan your earplugs: a Spanish feast is first of all sound. If you want a quiet bed in a feast week, look at a village further along.

About the authorMilo Schuijt

Milo Schuijt is an entrepreneur and DJ on the Costa Blanca. He writes about the places where he lives, works and plays: from beach bars to the housing market.