It’s fiesta time in Spain once more and already many of the surrounding towns and villages have staged their first fiestas of the summer.These events are very important to the locals – the main entertainment of the year, especially for the older folk, who don’t leave their home towns/villages very often. The culmination of each fiesta is normally a massive firework display.
The main feature of many fiestas is bull running in the high street or town square. In the port of Denia, however, the arena has one of its 4 sides as the quay, resulting in a bizarre event called ‘bous en la mar’ or ‘bulls in the sea.’ Bulls are released into the arena and the local young lads do their best to lure the bull over the edge of the quay into the sea to the delight of the crowd. Don’t worry, there is a rowing boat and 2 strong men to guide the bull safely back to a slipway. Not so the young guys who have jumped into the water to avoid being gored by the bull; they have to climb out on their own!
The little village of Orbetta, part of our own town of Orba, celebrated their recent fiesta in a more musical fashion and we went to listen to a rondalla, a group of musicians from the local music school playing classical Spanish instruments. Afterwards, the Orba town band paraded through the streets and the village settled down for some all-night partying!
See more photos from these events in the gallery.
