A journey through the festivals and traditions designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO

All year It’s a deeply rooted part of traditional culture, mainly in Andalusia, but also in regions like Extremadura and Murcia. Flamenco can take the form of song, dance, and instrumental music, and we recommend enjoying it in a tablao, performance venues which are common in cities like Seville and Madrid; or in the cave dwellings of Granada. There are also two major festivals: Cante de las Minas (every summer in La Unión, in the region of Murcia) and the Seville Bienal de Flamenco (held in even-numbered years, in September and October).More information

In the city of Valencia, around 19 March.Humour, satire and fire form the core of this fiesta, with most of the Valencians taking part, filling the whole city with fun and excitement for several days. The largest squares and streets display large groups of satirical papier-mâché sculptures – the Fallas – as noisy parades and spectacular fireworks welcome the spring. Everything culminates on the night of 19 March, the cremá, when all the Fallas are burnt except for the ninot, the best sculpture of the year, which will take its place in the Museum of the Fallas in Valencia.More information

In Cordoba (Andalusia) in May.Courtyards and squares are decorated with thousands of flowers, the scent of orange blossom and jasmine fills the air, and the streets echo to the sounds of flamenco. This is Cordoba’s Festival of the Courtyards, celebrating the traditional courtyard or patio, a space for family and social life. The residents decorate their courtyards with flowers and take part in a competition to find the prettiest one. Entertainment is held in the largest courtyards, mainly flamenco music and dance, filling the whole city with a festive air and welcoming the spring, at the start of a month of fiestas.More information

In villages of Aragon and Catalonia from June to July.Welcoming summer to the Pyrenees, this fiesta is celebrated in many villages in the Sobrarbe and Ribagorza areas of Huesca, Aragon, and the Alta Ribagorza, Berguedá, Pallars Jussà and Val d’Aran areas of Lleida, Catalonia. It is a cultural event which has survived over the years, typically involving a festive banquet and folk songs and dances, with practically all of the population joining in. Everything centres on fire, and the most common tradition is for the participants to descend from the highest point of the village with lit torches while they dance and make shapes with the fire. Finally, they light a large bonfire in the centre of the village to welcome the summer, and the merry-making continues.More information

In Elche (Alicante), every year from 11 to 15 August, plus on even-numbered years, from late October to 1 November.A unique opportunity to see one of the earliest forms of musical theatre, with a religious play depicting the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin, which has been held continuously since the 15th century. It is staged in the Basilica of Santa María, with the performers singing the texts, in Valencian and Latin. The work is divided into two acts, each one representing a day. On the days leading up to the performance, there are rehearsals which are also open to the public. In all cases, you will have to buy tickets, and we recommend getting them well in advance.More information

In Caravaca de la Cruz (Murcia), 1-3 May.Thousands of visitors come to Caravaca every year to celebrate the Festivals of the Santísima and Vera Cruz, which include two unique shows in the world: the Festival of Moors and Christians and the Wine Horses. This last event has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage. On 2 May, Caravaca lives its most intense day with the mythical Wine Horses race, a competition in which more than 60 associations evoke a legend according to which a group of Christian knights managed to break an enemy siege.This festival stands out not only for the sound of galloping horses, but also for the delicate embroidered cloaks they wear, the music and the thousands of people dressed in white and red that transform the city.More information.