Moors and Christians 2013

Prior to the actual Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, which takes place from 19 to 28 July this year, there will be a Medieval Market from 15 to 17 July, held in the Calle Castillo, behind the church. The market will be officially opened at 11:30 on Monday 15 July.

As for the Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos themselves, what follows is only a brief outline of the events planned. For a full calendar of events in English, visit this page or pick one of the free printed calendars that can be found all around Guardamar.

The run-up to the last two days can be confusing to people from outside Guardamar, especially with the street battles and peculiar mixture of religion. However, there are a couple of concerts you might enjoy and there is no doubt at all that you will more than impressed by the parades of the last two days. To give you an idea of the costumes, you might like to have a look at my photos from 2011 (and from there you can follow a link to see other years, too).

Friday, 19 July

Starting at 21.30, pomp and circumstance as the Queen of the Fiestas together with others walk from the Plaza Labradores along the Calle Mayor to end up in the Plaza de la Constitución.

22.00 Opening speech by Inmaculada Cases Gómez, of the Hospital Vega Baja.

22.30 Presentation of standards (flags)

23.00 Coronation of the Queen of the Fiestas, including a light, water and fire spectacular.


Saturday, 20 July

22.00 Fancy Dress Parade and competition, starting at the corner of the Calle Mayor and the Calle Norte and passing along the Avenida País Valenciano, to finish in the Plaza Jaume II.


Sunday, 21 July

20.30 Music Concert in the Parque Reina Sofia.


Monday, 22 July

20.30 Choral Concert, including the Aromas de Guardamar choir (presumably in the Parque Reina Sofía, though you should check on this first).


Wednesday, 24 July

20.00 First street battle. Lots of noise. Followed at 21.00 by the entry into the castle (on the Plaza de la Constitución, presumably) by the Christians and its subsequent loss to the Moors.


Thursday, 25 July

11.30 Parade with the Music Society of Guardamar accompanying the Queen of the Fiestas and others through numerous streets, starting in Calle Colón and passing through Calles Gratitud, San José, Inginiero Mira, Ausias March, Las Viñas, Luis Rivera, Mediodía, Vicente Ramos, and Ingeniero Mira again to end in the Plaza de la Constisución.

21.00 Another procession, but more sobre,, passing along C/ Ingeniero Mira, Plaza de Abastos, C/ San Emigdio, C/ Valencia, C/ Mayor, Avda. País Valenciano, C/ Medio día, C/ Vicente Ramos yand ending at the church.

01.00 Firework display on the Playa Roqueta.


Friday, 26 July

20.00 Second street battle. Lots of noise again. This time the Moors enter the castle and the Christians come along to take it from them.


Saturday, 27 July

(This is really what it's all about)

20.30 Moors and Christians Parade. First the Moors, then the Christians, interspersed with marching bands. They leave from the corner of Calle Lepanto and Avenida País Valenciano, marching line-abreast along Avenida País Valenciano, Calle Mayor, and ending at the the crossing of Calle Mayor with Calle Norte.


Sunday, 28 July

19.00 Marching bands parade, starting at the crossing of Calle Mayor with Calle Norte and following the reverse route of the Moors and Christians Parade.

20.00 Moors and Christians Parade. This time the Christians lead the parade, followed by the Moors. Don't think this is a mere duplicate of the previous day's parade: most comparsas wear different costumes on each day.

01.00 Fireworks Display at the castle (the real castle this time!).

David Neale

Time to Learn Some Spanish

If you stay in Spain for any length of time, either permanently or as a frequent visitor, it is only polite to be able to speak to the locals in their own language.

It is very easy to make excuses about being too old to learn (rubbish), or that the Spanish speak too fast (it's a foreign language and they always sounds fast in the beginning), or some other reason to try to opt out of what you would probably consider to be an obligation for visitors to your own country: to learn the language of your country.

All nonsense, for you are perfectly capable of learning at least some basic Spanish and once you have that, you can continue to more adventurous conversations.

The thing is, you are not going to learn Spanish by reading a teach-yourself book or by going to evening classes. That's not how you learned your own language, so why do you think it would be a good way to learn Spanish? Okay, if you don't live here permanently, you might use these approaches to get some sort of start under your belt, though don't expect much more than that, for such methods will also require that you have a knowledge of grammar (you do know what the subjunctive voice is, don't you?).

No, the best way to learn any foreign language is to learn it in the same way you learned your own language: use it! Take every opportunity you have to stumble out a few words and to listen carefully to the native speakers. Don't worry about making mistakes: you make plenty of them in your own language (everyone does), so why worry about them when you are learning another language?

And don't just take my word for it. Here are some thought from an Irish polyglot. And a lot of sense he makes, too!

If you're still not utterly convinced that you can go out into the big wide world and actually speak Spanish with Spaniards, there's a great free course available that will give you an excellent start. No, it doesn't worry you with any grammar or tests or any other scholastic nonsense. Instead, it encourages you to make active use of the language right from the beginning, so that you get used to hearing others speaking Spanish, both native speakers and English speakers. You also yourself speaking Spanish and this is important, because in the beginning it's strange to hear yourself speaking something other than your own language. Thus you pick up the language in a natural way. The course is called Say Something In Spanish and if you give it a go I'm sure you will be surprised at how much Spanish you pick up in just the first lesson.

(And if you're really in for a challenge, there's a similar course called Say Something In Welsh).

David Neale