The beautiful places for sightseeing, gastronomy and summer festivals are some of the great virtues of Spain. Sharing with friends, enjoying the sun, fairs and musical events are the main attraction of summer. Although at other times of the year you can also enjoy many events. For the most part, the festivities in Spain are loaded with culture, joy and above all with religious reasons. Many of them refer to historical dates, some allegorical to the life and death of the Virgin Mary and their different names.
Visiting Spain and not visiting the corners of its towns and autonomous communities is like not having visited it. These towns offer places and spaces for cultural recreation that can make your tourist trip a walk through the traditional and religious culture of the country.
5 festivals in Spain that will leave you wanting to return
La Tomatina, Valencia
Due to its importance, 16 years ago the Tomatina Festival was declared a Celebration of International Tourist Interest. Spanish, English, French and many other tourists flood the streets of the Hoya de Buñol Region, in the Valencian Municipality to enjoy the reddest day in Spain. More than 140 thousand kilos of tomatoes are the stars of this party, where the main attraction is to bathe in tomato sauce thrown from a truck. The pitched battle where this vegetable is thrown at each other begins after an assistant manages to take a soap, placed on the end of a greased stick.
There are 20 thousand attendees each year, which makes this celebration one of the most important festivals in Spain. Enjoy with friends throwing tomatoes and then wallow in the juice that floods the streets of Buñol is a ritual for fans of this celebration
Medieval Festivities, Ávila
If you want to take a trip to medieval times, Ávila is the ideal destination. This year, at the end of the first week of September, the 2018 Medieval Days will be held. The walled city will dress with joy to receive tourists, who come to the town to enjoy this event. Archery activities, medieval concerts and horseback riding are just some of the activities that can be enjoyed. The most important squares of the city, where Santa Teresa was born, are preparing to become a medieval atmosphere of stories. In addition, the infrastructure of the capital of Abulense lends itself to this staging, thanks to its temples and its great wall.
Without a doubt, this is one of the festivals in Spain that you cannot miss to say goodbye to the summer. While you think about what to do in the coming days of the next time of year, autumn.
Night of the candles, Pedraza
For more than 25 years in the town of Pedraza, in Segovia the Fiesta de las Velas is celebrated. A celebration that, in addition to being an icon of the province, is a beautiful spectacle, thus attracting thousands of tourists to this town that now only has 500 inhabitants. During the first weekend of June, at approximately ten o’clock at night, all the streets of Pedraza are illuminated by candlelight, showing a magical rural landscape. While the celebration lasts, the electric light has no space; and the silence that invades the streets reflects a picturesque and peaceful atmosphere. This festival in Spain is a must for both local and national tourists.
Festivities of San Mateo, Logroño
Throughout history, wine has been the protagonist of a number of celebrations worldwide. Different in each cardinal point according to the customs of each locality but with a common purpose. In these festivals the good weather is celebrated, the beginning or end of each harvest or the obtaining of the first must of the season. Such is the case of the San Mateo Festivities in La Rioja. The so-called Harvest festivals combine a celebratory atmosphere with activities related to the art of cultivation; since the celebration coincides with the collection of the first grapes. During the festival, Saint Matthew is honored, while the treading of the grapes and the extraction of the first must are enjoyed amid floats and musical performances.
Enjoying these festivals in Spain is more than a religious experience.
Carnivals, Cádiz and Tenerife
Winter is not far behind, because if Spaniards know anything about it, it is to enjoy every season of the year. Throughout the month of February, the traditional Carnivals are celebrated in the country, where adults and children wear their best costumes to go for a walk in an atmosphere full of music. There are several towns that immerse themselves in this picturesque celebration, but those who have enjoyed them say that those of Cádiz and Tenerife have no comparison.
The largest and most well-known Carnival in all of Europe is that of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, there are those who compare it with those of world fame in Brazil. For a week the city is filled with joy and good music to give way to the great floats and horse rides that liven up the moment. Among troupes, songs and spectacular costumes on Shrove Tuesday, the carnival queen is chosen to represent them during the day. While in Cádiz its carnivals are characterized by a contest held a month before the festival begins. In this contest, the musical groups in charge of giving life to the party are chosen, with humorous but critical songs at the same time of the present time.
