Ontinyent: traditional parade and festivities in Spain

Hello friends!

Once again we took advantage of that weekend in an authentic Valencian village on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, we are in Ontinyent. During the day, we enjoyed nature, the sun, the pool of the house, those objects from another time, the essence of the place and of course the magnificent traditional food, here is the post if you want to see it: Ontinyent: local Mediterranean life and food in Spain

But then we had to leave the house, and go to the center of the town because in summer the local festivals begin in many places, and Ontinyent is famous for its Moors and Christians ("Moros y Cristianos") festival.

This festival recreates in an ostentatious and striking parade, those conflicts of centuries ago when the Christians reconquered the Iberian Peninsula after the Arab invasion. Now all the local people simply dress up in the best medieval finery, to recreate a part of Spanish history, with no other objective than to enjoy those moments and that legacy.

And it has to be done well, with every detail. Unfortunately, it was at night, because it is cooler and people go out more and you cannot see everything so clearly with the surrounding lights. But you can see many things from that long parade full of enthusiasm and impressive costumes, floats and also animals. It is so well recreated that there are camels and much more...

And we see groups of Saracen soldiers, Christian warriors, exotic dancers, everybody with their costumes and weapons, and there are even goats. By the way, the local people spend all year preparing everything, and they spend a lot of money on all these preparations and wonderful costumes. It is important for them to parade.

We also see floats converted into ancient settings, castles and fortresses, Christian and Muslim, an important work of craftsmanship. And more people with fantastic costumes, ostentatious with feathers, horns, shields and glitter. It is impressive, some ride on horseback and others play drums as they pass by. A great local show.

And it's not just the parade, we also walk through the streets afterwards and find the church and not only streets decorated with the different coats of arms but also the construction of a façade of a fictitious castle where congregations and other festivities are held, which they surely enjoy very much, in this very special town, such as Ontinyent.