22-26 June ¡Bienvenidos a Alicante! Las Hogueras
This is perhaps the part of the trip I am most excited about. I've never been to Alicante and can't wait to go to this typical Spanish coastal city during it's most famous festival... Las Hogueras de San Juan Bautista. Here's a video that summarizes the festival... Hogueras de San Juan de Alicante 2015 - Bing video
June 22nd: We will take a late afternoon train from Valencia to Alicante. It's about 1 hour 44 minutes.
The members of the ‘comsiones’ bring flowers to the patron Virgin of Alicante. The route goes from the Plaza de los Luceros, Alfonso X El Sabio, Rambla de Méndez Núñez, Calle San José and Plaza de Abad Penalva, to the Concatedral de San Nicolás. In the City Hall you can see the flower blanket that is filled with all the offerings.
Thurs. 23 June:
11AM - 1 PM (10 Euro tip?) FREE walking tour of the city
We will visit the main monuments of the city, we will also surprise you with stories, legends and secrets from the Arab era, explosions, wars, kings, queens, fires and all the protagonists of the construction of this city, of its history and its scars.
We will tell you the legend of "the face of the Moor" 👳 symbol of the city, we will talk about the bombings 💣 that occurred during the civil war and we will explore the streets once spotted by Romans and built by Arabs , who left vestiges as important as the Castle of Santa Bárbara that crowns the city of Alicante.
In short, a walk through history from medieval times to the civil war.
But this guided tour does not only talk about the past, but also about Alicante culture and gastronomy , that is why we will not only talk about nougat and visit one of the oldest little shops in the city (from 1890), but we will also include a small tasting of Free nougat on the tour
This tour includes (among others) :
- Esplanade of Spain 🌴
- The port ⛵
- City Hall 🏫
- Basilica of Santa Maria ⛪
- The face of the Moor 👳
- City walls and the Porta Ferrisa 🏰
- Saint Nicholas Co-Cathedral ⛪
- The Rambla
- Free little nougat and local liquor tasting 🤤
- Interior of the Central Market 🍉🥑🍩🥩🧀🐟
- May 25 Square 💣
2 PM Mascletás a daily firework competition in the Plaza de Los Luceros at 14:00 from the 19th to the 23rd June every year. Each day one Pyrotechnic Display teams show off their skills by building an incredible and memorable mascletás display for you to witness in the heart of the city. Video here: Alicante Mascletás Video
Walk around and see the Hogueras.
Video here: What are the Hogueras about?
What are the Hogueras? Las Hogueras de San Juan – the Bonfires of Saint John – is by far the most important event in Alicante's cultural calendar, and it stands out among the most popular festivals in all of Spain. A truly amazing experience, the somewhat extravagant celebration will certainly provide you with an exciting time and a wealth of anecdotes that will link you closely – inextricably, even – to this beloved Mediterranean city.While the whole festival lasts for five days, the inauguration of the fiestas comes at midnight, on the evening of June 20, as the summer solstice takes place. Huge bonfires have been built in Alicante to celebrate the occasion for centuries. It is an Alicantine tradition to jump over the bonfire, although in recent years the size of the fires have made this far harder, and also unreasonably dangerous!.
Despite its obvious pagan root, the Hogueras have long been linked to the feast day of saint John, which is celebrated on June 24. That is precisely the day when Las Hogueras come to an end. While Saint John's Eve is celebrated all over the country, from Barcelona to Vigo and all the way down to Andalucía, nowhere are the arrangements as sumptuous and as striking as in Alicante, where the entire city comes, quite literally, to a full stop in order to pay their respect to the tradition in the rightful fashion. So, for the maddest and most famous bonfires in the country, be sure to head to the Mediterranean shoreline of Alicante.
12:00 Midnight: Many people will head to the beaches to celebrate the bonfires of San Juan. At midnight they will jump over the bonfires three times to be cleansed and their problems will be burned away. If you don't fancy that, just jump into the sea at midnight to wash away evil spirits.
Thur 24June:
12:00 AM La Cremá
The most famous part of Las Hogueras de San Juan is not surprisingly the blazing hogueras (bonfires). Traditionally, these Hogueras were nothing more than piles of junk and old furniture collected during massive summer house-cleaning. Constructed of wood and paper maché, today's Hogueras are elaborate works of art, reminiscent of the massive structures of Valencia's Las Fallas.
On the big night of the hogueras, fireworks are set off from a bay in the shape of a palm tree on the picturesque castle of Santa Bárbara, just above the bay of Alicante, to mark the beginning of the fiestas with a literal bang. From that moment on, Alicante's 88 hogueras light up the night one by one. Traditionally, once the fire was blazing, you had to jump seven times around the flames or go in the water, superstitions which resulted in the magical atmosphere that continues to shroud the night of San Juan.
Although the fires eventually die down – nowadays thanks to the firemen – the party continues throughout Alicante for several days and nights. Rockets blast off, balloons float up in the air, parades snake through the streets, and fireworks festively illuminate the sky each night at midnight. Finally, there is an annual competition to elect the next Belleza del Fuego (Beauty of the Fire), who then serves as the festival's queen along with her six ladies of honor.
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