Lobster Festival

On the last Sunday in June, this coastal town in the province of Pontevedra pays homage to the typical regional shellfish in a celebration where all the local people take part. At the port there is a popular menu including half a lobster, Rosal wine and a “roscón de yema” (typical local cake made with egg yolks). ...

Festival of San Martín, or the Humanitarians’ Festival

The festival is organised by the San Martín Humanitarian Association, and begins with the traditional sung mass of San Martín, accompanied by the sound of the typical Asturian bagpipes. ...

Festival of the Vaquilla

The event recreates the driving of the cattle (“vaquillas”) through the streets of the town, but in a uniquely distinctive way. The animals are not real, but artificial, and are created out of structures decorated with coloured silk ribbons, silk shawls and horns which are displayed with great gusto by all the participating groups as they ...

Pilgrimage of Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza

The Shrine of the Virgin of la Cabeza is found on a hill in Sierra Morena. Thousands of pilgrims from across the region gather in Andújar dressed in Andalusian style and riding various types of steeds and visit the Shrine on the third day of the festivities. During the night, people sing and dance in front of the Shrine. ...

Pilgrimages to Orreaga-Roncesvalles

The most interesting pilgrimages include the one in the Arce valley, which has been in existence since the 16th century; and the one in the Aezkoa valley, which is the most visually striking and colourful. All over the area in May and June you'll come across pilgrims dressed in dark tunics, or barefoot penitents covered with black veils. ...

Calatrava Route of the Passion

To mark the feast of Easter, this route visits the towns of Aldea del Rey, Almagro, Bolaños, Granátula, Miguelturra, Pozuelo, Torralba, Valenzuela, Moral and Calzada de Calatrava to experience their Easter traditions, from Holy Wednesday to Resurrection Sunday. ...

Fiestas of San Antón and the International “Noche de San Antón” Urban Race in Jaén

Sant Joan

The summer solstice is traditionally a night of magic, spells and portents. Tarragona celebrates this date with street dancing, popular feasts and firecrackers until the early hours of the morning, and of course the rite of the bonfires which are lit symbolically at various points throughout the city with the 'Canigó flame' (the fire which is ...

Easter week in Alcalá de Henares

It is one of the most traditional festivals in the city, which dates back to the 16th century. You can enjoy eight religious processions, visits to the monumental settings along the route, and a cake made at the local pastry shops at this time of year: Penitentes.

Easter Week in Alzira

The Pregón (opening) of the fiesta is signalled by a pistol shot. This sees the start of celebrations that live their most crucial moments during the Palm Sunday procession, a colourful event with a theatrical representation, as well as during the Holy Burial procession on Good Friday, with up to 40,000 people in attendance. ...

Easter Week in Astorga

The cofradías taking part in the Easter week processions in this town in Castile-León carry on their shoulders a series of religious images of outstanding artistic and traditional value. Two images in particular still survive from the original processions: the image of the Crucified Christ, from 1560 and Christ Flagellated. ...

Easter Week in Baena

Among the numerous traditional functions and processions, we should make special mention of the “Judio de Baena” (the Baena Jew). These characters play their drums ceaselessly throughout the procession, dressed in a particularly striking costume (red jacket, gold helmet and black or white plumes). ...

Easter Week in Cabra

Some of the statues venerated are real works of art by great Spanish classical sculptors. The silence and sobriety of some of the processions contrast with noisy devotion and the sound of saetas (flamenco-style religious songs), which are sung as other statues pass. ...

Easter Week in Cieza

Visitors can attend many processions, especially the Arrest of Christ on Easter Tuesday, Good Friday processions, Christ's Descent into Hell procession (early on Saturday morning), and the Courtesy on Easter Sunday, where the pasos (beautiful sculptures which are carried in procession during Easter Week) meet and revere each other. ...

Easter week in Ciudad Real

Easter week is one of the most heartfelt and deep-rooted fiestas celebrated in Spain. This commemoration has centuries of history and tradition, remembering the passion and death of Jesus Christ. ...

Easter week in Jerez de la Frontera

A total of 44 brotherhoods take part in the Easter processions in Jerez. The oldest brotherhoods date back to the 15th century, while the "youngest" had its first procession in 1973. They all make a stop at the Cathedral on their way - known as the station of penitence. ...

Easter Week in Riogordo

The most important event of the Easter week celebrations in Riogordo is the theatrical representation of the Passion. The dramatisation takes place on a natural stage, with space for an audience of more than 6,000 people. ...

Easter Week in Tobarra

These drum rolls can be heard in the village for 104 hours, not only during the processions, but all day long. The most sublime moment of the Tobarra celebrations comes on Good Friday, with a blessing given by a moving statue of the crucified Christ to thousands of people. This is the moment when the drums stop beating. ...

Week of the Zarzuela

During it, the town's residents —along with the numerous professionals and fans of this style— interpret diverse works at different points of the city. There are also events held at schools as an introduction to zarzuela and a series of acts aimed at promoting this genre.

Holy Week Stations of the Cross

The celebration begins with a processional parade that carries the medieval image of Cristo de la O from the Co-Cathedral of Santa María to the Roman Amphitheatre, an integral part of the archaeological complex of Mérida, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Stations of the Cross are movingly re-enacted in the Amphitheatre.

Fiesta of Sant Antoni Abat

An enormous bonfire (“la foguera”) is burned in honour of the saint on 16 January, but preparations start on 7 December when the townspeople begin piling up firewood. In fact, the bonfire is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest bonfire. The religious celebrations are held on 17 January. ...

Patron festivities of Saint Vicente Ferrer

Some of the most common activities during these festivities include: Religious processions: these are one of the most important events, in which the figure of the saint is carried in a solemn procession around the city, accompanied by devotees wearing the traditional clothes and local music bands. ...

Santo Domingo patron saint's day fiesta

These fiestas were declared of National Tourist Interest for their antiquity, originality and the diversity of the events that take place in memory of Santo Domingo and his works and miracles. On 10 May, the Branches are blessed outside of the temple. The day before, at 11:00, Mass is held in the hermitage of the Saint. ...

Yecla Festival of the Immaculate Conception

Yecla, in Murcia, commemorates the Virgen del Castillo festivities at the start of December. The procession with the image of the patron saint, on the 8th, is the culminating moment of these festivities. ...

Festivities of San Bernabé

This event lies somewhere between myth and reality. According to tradition, the inhabitants of Logroño managed to survive by drinking wine from the wine cellars and eating bread made with wheat from the granaries and the fish they caught in secret. ...

San Juan del Monte Festivities

It is a festivity that dates back to the Middle Ages. Its numerous acts end on Monday with a large procession to a place called La Laguna, where there is a shrine dedicated to the saint. About thirty-five million people participate in it. The highlight is the "Blusa Song Festival". Local “ochotes” (small choirs) take part in this festival. ...

Medieval Festival in Briones

This is a popular event which is attended by over 50,000 people and which takes place the third weekend in June. The activities on offer include a light and sound show which narrates historic events from the 14th century on the balcony of the Palace of San Nicolás when the sun goes down. ...

Olive and olive oil sessions

Many activities including exhibitions, conferences, tasting sessions, workshops and competitions, as well as music and folklore, complete this renowned event.

'De la Luna al Fuego' ('from the Moon to Fire') festival

This event takes place within the city walls and recreates the atmosphere of the street markets in the 16th-18th centuries, and is held to coincide with traditional celebrations such as the Corpus Christi and the typical festivity known as the 'mojá de varas' (dipping poles in water) on the night of San Juan. ...

Pig slaughter in Burgo de Osma

They recover an ancient tradition rooted in many of the region's rural areas: entire families would gather around a table to sacrifice a pig. This ancestral ritual – in which hams, black pudding, chorizos, sirloins and other cured meats and sausages were made by hand – was a social, bond-affirming day. ...

Los Mayos in Alhama de Murcia

Los Mayos is a festival that takes place on the first Sunday in May in Alhama de Murcia. Although its origin is unknown and much earlier on, the first written references to it date from the 1920s. ...

Medieval market in Nájera

Throughout the days of the market, there are trades workshops (blacksmiths, potters, etc.), storytellers and several exhibitions featuring clothing and articles from medieval times. There are also children’s entertainments such as a farm with animals, falconry demonstrations, and theatre performances, groups of jugglers and medieval contests. ...

Mystery of the Passion

This play has been performed since 1481. A curious anecdote, found in a chronicle from 1570, tells that during the passage regarding the Crucifixion of the Lord, several people were injured when the crowd, worked up over what they saw, attacked the stage with sticks to punish the soldiers and the Jews. ...

The Three Kings mystery play

With the arrival of the Three Kings to the town to worship the Child, the streets of Sangüesa, on the Way of Saint James, become the site of a re-enactment of the meeting with Herod, the conversations with the shepherds and shepherd boys, and the angel’s warning of King Herod's evil intentions. ...

The Passion in Chinchón

During Easter Week Chinchón, in the Region of Madrid, commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with a theatrical representation of the Passion. Some 250 actors take part in the event, held at dusk on Easter Saturday, at emblematic locations around the town such as Plaza Mayor Square, the Town Hall, Plaza de San Roque ...

Living Passion in Castro Urdiales

The festival is a re-enactment of the Passion of Jesus Christ, in which every last detail is carefully planned, such as the script, the décor and the costumes. The final hours of Jesus Christ are movingly depicted in the historic centre of Castro Urdiales, with scenes such as the Prayer in the Garden of Olives, the Arrest, the Trial, the ...