In Septmeber in Spain there are plenty of Festivals and Ferias to enjoy, and loads of local Spanish culture and traditions to see. Take advantage and visit Granada during their festivals!
During September there’s loads of festivals and parties all over Spain, celebrating traditions from each region. There’s loads of music, food and traditional festivals to enjoy and see, and each city has it’s own local traditions and specialities.
In Castille and Leon there’s loads going on in each city for example, with the Ferias in Salamanca, of the Virgen de la Vega, in Valladolid where they chase a small bull through the streets, there’s different festivals too in Segovia and loads more things to see in the area.
If we go further afield to Madrid there’s more to do too! And in the east in Valencia and Castellón there’s festivals, including wine festivals, paella festivals and more.
The Cascamorras Festivals in Granada
In the south of Spain though there’s some more exciting things going on. In Jerez de la Frontera, near to Seville, there’s a wine harvest and a local Sherry festival, and the celebrations include the local Sherry, flamenco dancing and horses! If you want to see more Flamenco Seville is the place to visit, there’s loads more Flamenco festivals going on in September in Seville.
The most interesting festival to see though is the Cascamorras Festival in Granada. This tradition dates back to the year 1490 and takes place in the villages of Baza and Guadix in Granada. It’s been declared a National interest for Tourists and anyone that wants to can join in the celebrations!
The history is that in the year 1490 a worker was working on the Church of the Merced, when he heard a shout coming out of a hole in the wall of one of the chapels. It’s said that this voice was beautiful and came from the ground below the church out of this hole in the chapel, and said “Have Mercy!”
They found a sculpture of a Virgin and then gave her the name Her lady of Mercy, because of what had been heard. Since then there’s been an ongoing fight between the two villages of Granada over who has proper claim over the statue of the Virgin. The custody of the statue was given to the village of Baza, but every year the people of Guadix were allowed to enter the village every September the 8th to try and claim back the statue. If they could enter and manage to get the statue of the Virgin of Mercy without being stained, they could go back to Guadix with the monument.
The kids from the village of Baza throw paint at the others to try and stain them, and this Spanish tradition continues up to today and the people still celebrate every September 8th by thowing paint and water at each other! If anybody gets out without being dirtied up then the village of Guadix can take back the statue!
This is just one of many Spanish traditions and cultures that you can see and enjoy first hand if you’re in Spain. Have a look for some cheap flights to Spain or take a holiday and study some Spanish whilst you’re here so that you can really appreciate the Spanish culture!
