Five Events to Have Fun in February in Spain
Celebrations that remain unaltered in time. The month of February is the month of carnivals, fun and costumes, but, in addition, there are other celebrations of different themes that are lived with great
intensity by different points of Spain.
1. Moors and Christians: from 5 to 9, in Bocairent (Valencia)
A feast in honor of Saint Blaise, which includes gunpowder, fireworks, color, music and comparsas that depict the parliament between Moors and Christians. It is one of the oldest and unique celebrations in Valencia, which is culminated in the procession of the day of Saint Blaise, when the image of the saint, the holy relic, and the script of Saint Blaise arrive at the City Hall
with the clanging of the bells, the lights are turned off, and an avalanche of small papers fall over the image. Participants and visitors alike join in a festive atmosphere.
2. Carnival del Toro: from 5 to 9, in the town of Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca)
Related to the world of bullfighting is the most popular festival in the town of Ciudad Rodrigo. For four days, confinement and free from confinement take place where loose bulls run through the narrow and cobbled streets of the city, while the plaza Mayor becomes an improvised bullring built of wood. A celebration that combines masks and bulls, brass bands and capes,
floats, dances and bullfights, in a feast of great fun.
3. Feast of the Heifer: February 2 in Colmenar Viejo (Madrid)
The feast of the Heifer of Colmenar Viejo is celebrated every year to reminisce about the past cattle ranchers in the locality. All the neighbors are actively involved, especially the boys who are the ones that are disguised by simulating a heifer. The heifer and companions dance through
the streets of the town to the square where, finally, it simulates its death with three gun shots in the air, and later, drink its blood through a lemonade sangria that all the attendees taste.
4. The Brotherhood of the Devils: from 1 to 3, in Almonacid del Marquesado (Cuenca)
Possibly the oldest tradition in Spain that is celebrated in honor of the Virgin of Candelaria and Saint Blaise. For three days, approximately 130 “devils”, dressed in brightly colored costumesand large cowbells hanging behind their backs, parade through the streets of the town, to thentake out the saints in a procession, dedicating dances and jumps to them. The show is completed with a series of dances in the plaza, exclusively by women.
5. Magdalena Festival: from February 27 to March 6, in Castellón de la Plana (Valencia)
They are the festivities of Castellón de la Plana and commemorate its origins with a series of traditional events: The Pregón (the opening speech), the Procession of Penitents, the Gaiatas parade. The celebrated “romeria de les canyes” takes place as the epicenter of the feast to the
chapel of Santa Maria Magdalena (Saint Mary Magdalene), the place where the settlement was that would give rise to Castellón. In addition, there are concerts, pyrotechnic shows, floral offerings, gastronomic tastings… a complete festive offer.
Source: LaVanguardia.com