December 22nd is a very special day on every Spanish family’s calendar. It’s the day of the Christmas lottery which is better known worldwide as ‘El Gordo’ … the fat one! The total prize money to be shared out in this month’s draw is €2.3 billion and thanks to a …
The annual Benidorm fiestas take place in honour of the town’s patron Saints ‘la Virgen del Sufragio’ and ‘San Jaime Apóstol’. They always begin on the Friday of the second weekend of November and officially end the following Wednesday. During these days there are all kinds of street parties, open …
When I first set up Spanish-Fiestas.com I hadn’t really given much thought to the wonderful world of festivals in Spain. At the time I was working at San Pablo CEU University in Madrid and started organising weekends for British football fans who wanted to see a Real Madrid game. Shortly …
The Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as The Fiesta of Near Death Experiences, does it? That, however, is the official title of this annual event held on July 29th every year in the small town of Las Nieves – or As …
It was once said that if you wanted to see what a town looked like when everyone living there had had a glass too many, then just pay a visit to Bilbao during Semana Grande – or Aste Nagusia, as they’re as likely to refer to it. Every year during …
The Día de la Virgen del Carmen is celebrated on July 16th in many coastal towns and villages throughout Spain. Places as diverse as Almuñecar, on the coast of Granada province, and Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife share the festival with many other coastal communities in Andalucia, Murcia, Valencia …
Corpus Christi is undoubtedly Toledo’s most important and oldest festival. Formally instigated by Pope Urban IV in 1264, the religious festival is under the guidance of Toledo’s archbishop, the cardinal primate of Spain. The celebration itself falls on the Sunday of the ninth week after Easter, normally around the end …
La Batalla del Vino The Haro Wine Festival involves thousands of people soaking themselves, and everybody around them, in red wine then rushing off to run around a bull ring chasing frolicking heifers and then heading off to a party. That’s La Batalla del Vino in a nutshell. Held in …
The ‘golden triangle’ or the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Flamenco music – the heart and soul of this traditional style – is said to be an area contained within the cities of Cádiz and Jerez de la Frontera and the barrio of Triana in Seville. This is the home of flamenco. …
