I Love a Spanish Fiesta

Spain is famous for its festivals, even though they don’t advertise them. You just have to be there and enjoy the moment. We were in Sitges at the time of the Feast of Santa Tecla, and it really added some excitement to the holiday. It began with Human Tower building in the square outside the Town Hall and the crush of people was amazing. Going up might have been the safest place to be, although only small children actually climb to the top. This was followed by a procession that wound through the streets of the old town, led by two giant, papier mâché statues of a king and queen. In the evening there was a concert in the church and dancing in the square.

The whole event went on all week with something different happening every day, until the final night of celebration. That was when a whole army of these figures paraded the streets chased by people letting off firecrackers. (I've never seen so many t-shirts with holes burnt in them!) The King and Queen led the way, followed by a giant Dragon breathing fire. There were also several bands in the mix and lots of runners who would change places with the occupants of the giant statues. The narrow streets were crowded with locals and bemused tourists and filled with noxious fumes from the fireworks. It was a Health and Safety nightmare and the most brilliant spectacular that we had seen in years. All the shop fronts down the main street were boarded up, probably from experience. Luckily for us, the bar owner where we had been drinking allowed us to go upstairs and we watched the whole parade from the safety of a balcony. But that wasn’t quite the finale either. Later that night the fireworks were set off from the promontory near the Castell de les Sitges, and the night sky over the sea was lit with sparkling colour.

It makes you wonder if that can be topped, but in Spain they do it for the love, so each festival is to its own, and a sight to behold because of it. We all know about La Tomatina and the running of the bulls in Pamplona but I’m sure that there must be a festival going on every day, somewhere in Spain.

Some of the least well known seem to be the Horse Festivals which are part of the Andalusian culture, and there are a number of these in Southern Spain where equestrian events are extremely popular and the horses very beautiful. The Seville Spring Fair, or Feria de Abril is usually the first to be held in April each year and if you are in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in August, you can expect to see Horse racing along the beach, an event that dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. There are also Romerías, where riders and walkers come from miles around and gather to picnic, and every Andalusian town has its own Fiesta and Horse Parade in August.

Our aim was to attend the La Fiesta del Caballo en Jerez. We flew out to Spain one day in 2011 and after a few lazy days in our favourite resort of Sitges, we took an internal flight from Barcelona to Seville.

Oh, Seville, what a city. It transpired that we had missed their Horse festival by a week, but as I said earlier, we had no idea that one was held there. We took a couple of days to get our bearings and find out how to get to Jerez on public transport. We could have hired a car, but it was a fairly long drive and we both wanted to enjoy the scenery. Besides which, I always think that using public transport abroad adds something to the holiday. On the appointed day, we were up early and in a taxi to the station. We had a hairy moment when I realised that I had told the driver the wrong station and he made a sudden u-turn in the middle of the rush hour traffic. But we made it in one piece, got our rail tickets and waited for the train.

The further Southwest you go, fewer people seem to speak any English, so with our very limited Spanish we had a problem when we arrived in Jerez. It was an un-manned station, and the only person we could find was an old man sweeping up. He looked dumbly at us, so we wandered out into the street and eventually found somebody who pointed us towards the bus station. Then with the mime of a horse and a few broken words, we achieved the right bus. It drove through the town where several elderly people got on, and we tried asking which was the right stop for us. There was a lot of discussion, but then they realised what we were about and with a lot of smiles and laughter and hand waving, we were deposited at the gates of the showground.

After enquiring at the gate and discovering that not only was this the right place, but that entry was free, we wandered in. It wasn’t a bit like the Yorkshire Showground where we had been many times before, and it was completely dead. We heard voices coming from a large, covered dressage arena and making our way in we discovered a wonderful display. There were about eight Andalusian horses, with riders looking splendid in military style uniforms, performing a routine, weaving in and out, then doing a figure of eight and several other fancy moves. When they had finished a rider showed us some intricate dressage, which was followed by Lorenzo with one of his beautiful Lusitano stallions. We were delighted as he took it through its paces using a long pike and just a movement, or a gesture. There were comic moments when Lorenzo would walk away and the horse would slowly amble up behind him and nudge him in the back, pushing Lorenzo along. Or he would feign a command, Lorenzo would shake his head and then the horse would do as asked. It was a very natural, gentle and moving performance; man and beast working in harmony.

Outside in the yard we took photos of the riders with their horses before going into a large exhibition hall to escape the heat. This area had stables and trade stands which was all very dull, and we were puzzled as so far we had not seen anything that we expected. A trio of young schoolgirls came by in their Flamenco dresses and smiled shyly as they posed for a photo, and we were inspecting some machinery when we heard English voices. By a stroke of luck, we had bumped into three ladies from the Midlands who said they visited Jerez every year especially for the Horse Fair. We chatted for a while and then they asked why were we not outside taking it all in.

Back outside the scene could not have been more different from when we arrived. The showground was heaving with a mass of people and horses everywhere you looked. It still makes my heart sing just thinking about it. Such an explosion of colour and noise. It was everything and more than we expected and it is difficult to know where to start describing the sights and sounds

The showground is laid out as a large cross, and each of the four ‘avenues’ were lined with casetas (little booths or bars) where people were eating, drinking and dancing. In fact, they were so crowded it was impossible to get near enough to get a drink for ourselves. At least half of the crowd was wearing traditional costumes, with the ladies in colourful traje de flamenca (Flamenca outfit). Most of these are handed down through the family and regarded as treasured heirlooms. Whilst the women looked beautiful, the men looked extremely smart in Trajes cortos, (short suits) with the sombrero de alanche, a wide-brimmed hat. It was all wonderfully Spanish.

Some of the casetas had a small area for dancing and every now and then some music would play and men and women would jump up and there would be rhythmic stamping and clapping as they danced Flamenco in short bursts. It looked so good and even the children were doing it; we would have loved to join in, but for several reasons, I think not.

However, the real drama was out on the avenues where horses dominated the scene. There were hundreds of them; splendid horses with riders, splendid horses with even more splendid carriages all decked out for a parade with highly polished tack and lots of jingling bells. Parading up and down, showing off their finery. Once we realised that we could also ride in a carriage for a few euros, there was no stopping us, we chose a lovely open topped Landau and it was such an exhilarating feeling, riding high and being part of the parade involved in the festival. The horses were magnificent, beautiful Andalusians and Arabs so well groomed, their coats gleaming and with their manes plaited and plenty of ribbons on display.

We saw two girls, beautifully dressed with their horses, which they had brought just to show. There were several mounted posses riding round the parade and we watched as someone would pick up a child or a lady and sit them in front on the saddle as they rode off. Then maybe a group would stop for a drink, but the drink itself was usually Sherry. I suppose it makes sense as we were in Jerez at the very heart of Sherry producing country and all of the major names were on display, from Tio Pepe to Harveys. It was such a hot day though, and we were much happier with the water that we managed to find, I also appreciated the fan that somebody handed me. I must have looked a bit over-heated.

As if all this wasn’t enough, as we walked towards the gate we could see a huge funfair on the other side of the park. It had everything, including hundreds of people enjoying the rides and stalls. Families with children eating candy floss and carrying balloons. Then there was the smell of food, hot dogs and paella cooking, and a real cacophony of music. It all added to the atmosphere. I can’t think of a spectacle like it anywhere in Britain.

After an Helada (ice cream) and loads of photographs we decided to head back to the town and the train, tired but happy. We found a nice peaceful bar out of the heat and enjoyed an excellent meal right next to the station. I don’t think the owner was used to having English visitors and he fussed over us and made us feel very welcome.

The train was on time, and we welcomed the comfortable seats as we sped through the darkening countryside towards Seville, re-living the day and counting the memories of a wonderful festival, the origins of which go back at least 500 years.

One day we will return and actually stay in Jerez to experience the whole week of La Fiesta del Caballo en Jerez. We probably won’t visit the huge fun fair right next to the park, but we would love to watch all the different events such as the carriage driving and rounding up of cattle. See the showground lit up in the evening and the fireworks display. But mainly the highlight seeing the hundreds of horses and carriages in procession as they leave the showground at the end of each day. If you love horses and decide to attend this event, I promise you are in for an experience of a lifetime.