Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/08/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Many Spanish towns, certainly in this part of the country, have an annual Moros y Cristianos festival, commemorating the occupation of Spain by the Moors in the early Middle Ages and its reconquista by the Catholic kings in the late Middle Ages. The process of Reconquista took several hundred years, starting in the north and ending with the departure of the last Moorish ruler from Granada in 1492. The Valencia region, where Alicante is located, was reconquered in the second half of the 13th century. For that reason, the dates of the local festivals vary widely. In our neighbouring town of El Campello it is in early January, but in the inland town of Almorad?, 50 km from Alicante, it was this past weekend. The fiestas generally consist of re-enactments of some battles, speeches but most of all they are an excuse to party for several days--in the case of Almorad? from Thursday afternoon until Sunday evening. Given that, the amount of drunkenness was remarkably low when we went there to see the culmination of the fiesta on Sunday. In Northern Europe, such an event would inevitably result in some people on the ground, some fighting, vandalism etc.--but not here. The Spanish know how to party hard but civilised. We had the honour of being invited to have lunch with the Moros, led by our friends Maricarmen and Hilari?n. Whether one is a Moor or a Cristiano during these fiestas is determined by tradition and passed down through generations. The pictorial record is here: http://www.greatpix.eu/Other/Moros-y-Cristianos-Almoradi Cheers, Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ YNWA