Robert HardingSpain is the world’s best festival destination with every town in the country holding its own unique street party. Whether centring around extravagant parades, feats of bravery, fireworks or food fights, these events are all about celebration and exuberant spectacle. Here are some of the best.
Las Fallas, Valencia, March
Sculptors in Valencia work for many months to create the fallas – elaborate wooden, paper-machè and plaster figures propped on architectural monuments several stories high, that are often caricatures of public figures and celebrities. After being paraded on the streets for a few days they are spectacularly burned during la crema, the highlight of Las Fallas festival.
Carnival characters and satirical sculptures at the Fallas festival, Valencia (White Star/Jorg Steinert/Robert Harding)
Falla of Na Jordana burning, by Manolo Martin, Fallas Festival, Valencia (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
Falla burning, Fallas festival, Valencia (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
Semana Santa, throughout Spain, April
During Semana Santa, as Easter is known in Spain, Catholic brotherhoods take to the streets to perform solemn processions, often dressed in striking – not to mention scary-looking – robes with hoods, originating from medieval penitents’ costumes. These processions dominate the streets of almost every Spanish town during the last week of Lent, but they are at their most visually extravagant in Andalusia and Malaga.
Procession of the brotherhood Lignum Crucis, Good Friday, Semana Santa, Iglesia de la Concepcion, Tenerife (Juergen Richter/Robert Harding)
Easter Week (Semana Santa) – Smoking candles held during a procession, Malaga (Rob Cousins/Robert Harding)
Detail from a Semana Santa parade (Iolanda Astor/Robert Harding)
Las Turbas procession, Semana Santa, Cuenca, La Mancha (Antonio Real/Robert Harding)
Feria de Abril, Seville, April
Held two weeks after Semana Santa, the Feria de Abril (Seville Fair) fills this beautiful Andalucian town with music, dancing – Seville is one of Spain’s flamenco capitals – and spectacular horse parades. The fair is an opportunity for locals to dress in their best costumes and to be seen out on the wonderfully decorated streets. During the day horse parades centre around the bullring, while evenings see people partying in marquees, drinking sherry and eating plentiful tapas.
April Fair, Couple in a traditional costumes on a horse, Sevilla (Felix Gonzalez/Robert Harding)
Feria of Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain (Bruno Morandi/Robert Harding)
Couple on a horse, Feria de Abril, Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain (Juergen Richter/Robert Harding)
Moros y Cristianos, Valencia, April
Battles between Moors and Christians are reenacted each year in Valencia to celebrate the Reconquista, the struggle that took place from the 8th to the 15th century, ending in Christian victory after 700 years of Moorish rule. Troupes take to the street dressed up in medieval inspired costumes against a backdrop of fireworks, music and gunshots. The festival’s climax is a final battle, won by the Christians, that is fought around a castle. The most spectacular Moors and Christians festival takes place in the old town of Alcoy, Alicante.
Moros y Cristianos local festival, Alcoy, Alicante province (Jose Fuste Raga/Robert Harding)
Battle reenactments, Majorca, Balearic Islands (Jaume Gual/Robert Harding)
Men dressed in elaborate costumes, loosely representing North African tribes, the Moors, smoke cigars while marching in a parade during the Festival of Moors and Christians in the old town of Alcoy, Alicante Province (Beth Wald/Robert Harding)
Romería de Rocío, El Rocío, May
The Romería de Rocío is Spain’s largest and most spectacular pilgrimage, dating back to 1653. More than a million pilgrims walk or ride horses through the beautiful countryside of the Doñana National Park to the village of El Rocío in Almonte, Andalusia, during Pentecost. There they pay tribute to the Virgin of El Rocío, whose effigy is carried around the town as crowds of passionate followers fight for the privilege of carrying it.
Romeria (pilgrimage) to El Rocio, Quema River, Huelva province, Andalusia (Jose Fuste Raga/Robert Harding)
Journey through Donana National Park to El Rocio, Huelva province, Andalusia (Thomas Dressler/Robert Harding)
Procession, ‘romeria’ (pilgrimage) to El Rocio, Almonte, Huelva province, Andalucia (Jose Antonio Moreno/Robert Harding)
Pilgrims at El Rocio, Almonte, Huelva province, Andalucia (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
Tomatina, Bunyol, near Valencia, June
The world’s biggest food fight takes place in the Spanish town of Buñol every August. More than a hundred tons of over-the-hill tomatoes, transported into the town by lorries, are thrown in the streets by 20,000 people, creating a riot of colour that ends up in a sludgy mess.
Tomatina Festival, Bunol City, Valencia Region (Jose Fuste Raga/Robert Harding)
A couple kissing at the Tomatina Festival, Valencia (Crackphotos/Robert Harding)
Tomatina Festival, Bunol City, Valencia Region (Jose Fuste Raga/Robert Harding)
Revellers swimming in tomatoes, Tomatina, Valencia (Bjorn Svensson/Robert Harding)
San Fermin (Running of the Bulls), Pamplona, July
Attracting over a million people each year, the San Fermin festival’s most renowned event is the encierro, or running of the bulls, in which a bull is let loose in the streets every morning for a week. Hundreds of people run in front of the bulls down a narrow street in a section of the old town of Pamplona, ending in the Pamplona bullring. While this may be only for the brave, there are many other events to enjoy, such as parades, local sports and fireworks displays.
Running of the bulls (Encierro), San Fermin festival, Pamplona (Marco Cristofori/Robert Harding)
Street party, people waiting for the ‘Chupinazo’, the opening ceremony of the San Fermin Festival, Pamplona (Bjorn Svensson/Robert Harding)
Bull fighting, San Fermin festival, Plaza de Toros, Pamplona (Marco Cristofori/Robert Harding)
Fountain jumping during San Fermin Festival, Navarreria fountain, Pamplona (Gonzalo Azumendi/Robert Harding)
Crowds during the opening ceremony (chupinazo) of the festival of San Fermin (The Running of the Bulls), Pamplona (Eric Nathan/Robert Harding)
Festes de la merce, Barcelona, September
Barcelona’s spectacular La Mercè Festival – the city’s largest street party – kicks off towards the end of September. Held in honour of the Patron Saint of Barcelona, the festival bids goodbye to the summer in charismatic style and welcomes in the autumn with precarious human towers, parades of giants and fire breathing dragons.
Minyons de Terrassa building human tower, Placa de Sant Jaume, Barcelona (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
Castellers de Barcelona building a human tower (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
Giant’s parade, Festa de la Merce, city festival, September, La Rambla, Barcelona (Juergen Richter/Robert Harding)
Fireworks at Barceloneta beach during La Merce Festival, Barcelona (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
‘Correfoc’, a typical catalan celebration in which dragons and devils armed with fireworks dance through the streets In Via Laietana during La Merce Festival, Barcelona (Lucas Vallecillos/Robert Harding)
See more images of Spain’s festivals here