En los últimos años, uno de los temas más calientes de Alcoy es la fecha de las Fiestas. Viviendo fuera de allí, cuanto más en fin de semana sea, mejor, porque así puedo ir sin problemas de vacaciones ni historias. Este año, la Entrada, que es el día grande caía en domingo, así que pudimos disfrutar de la entrada cristiana (por la mañana) y ver al Capitán por la tarde, antes de emprender el viaje de vuelta a nuestras obligaciones cotidianas.
El sábado nos dejamos guiar por la historia de Alcoy por Quality Tours Mariola antes de juntarnos con el resto del pueblo en el canto del Himno de Fiestas, y la verdad es que aprendimos bastantes cosas sobre el origen de la ciudad y de las Fiestas…
El origen histórico de las fiestas se remonta al siglo XIII cuando la península Ibérica estaba bajo dominio musulmán y los cristianos estaban enfrascados en la Reconquista. La zona de Alcoy estaba bajo el dominio del caudillo Al-Azraq, el cual trató por todos los medios de evitar que las fuerzas de Jaume I le pasaran por encima, lo cual no evitó que salvara su vida por los pelos en 1244 y huyera al Norte de África. Tras esta victoria cristiana, se fundó Alcoy unos pocos años después bajo dominio de Jaume I.
Al-Azraq, no contento con las formas en que había huido, reclutó un ejército nutrido de las distintas tribus del norte de África, con el que volvió a reconquistar sus tierras. Aquí es donde se dice que las tropas cristianas ganaron gracias a la ayuda de San Jorge, que hizo que los poco supervivientes volvieran por donde llegaron.
Esta historia, a lo largo de los años, hizo crecer la devoción por San Jorge en las comarcas del interior de la provincia de Alicante, pero las Fiestas no aparecen como tales hasta el siglo XVIII. Esa época es convulsa para las poblaciones costeras, ya que sufrían los envites de corsarios y piratas varios. Para evitar esto, Felipe II organiza unas milicias en las poblaciones del interior, a las que se asignaba la defensa de las ciudades costeras. Alcoy se encargaba de ayudar a Villajoyosa.
Parece que los ejercicios de entrenamientos de estas milicias, junto con la devoción de San Jorge, dieron lugar a que la gente empezara a “formar” escuadras, y dio lugar a las fiestas que hoy disfrutamos.
Hay más fotos de las fiestas de este año en mi galería de Flickr.
Yet another visit to Barcelona, and another opportunity to confirm why Barcelona is one of the most visited cities in the world.
More pictures from Barcelona in this slideshow.
I guess there is not much left to say about the Moros y Cristianos festivities of Alcoy. I have written several posts about this topic (see the Related Posts in the end of this post), but it is compulsory to write a new one with some of this year’s shots.
More pictures in this slideshow.
Chinchón is a small town less than an hour drive far from Madrid, and a perfect choice for a day trip to escape from Madrid. Located in a nice natural environment, its main interest is the “Plaza Mayor”, the main square of the town, which has been used for several purposes like market or bullring.
Apart from that, it has got several small (and not that small) churches, and an old castle with astonoshing views of the surrounding valleys, which make it worth the visit.
For those of you familiar to Spanish traditions, you may have heard the name of this town linked to two other concepts: one of them is a card game (although it seems it has no relationship with the town), while the other is an Anisette-type drink which is produced in this region.
The longest weekend in the year in Spain (5 days) is the perfect excuse (do we need one?) to travel. This time was the turn for Euskadi or Basque Country. Well-known region in the world, but totally unknown for me.
First stop in the last trip to the North of Spain, Burgos welcomed us with a white landscape.
Beautiful city crossed by the Arlanzón river (I have a soft spot for the cities with rivers) and really good food. After getting warm with a soup, we took advantage of a couple of advices from a “burgalés”, and enjoyed some good tapas, made of the typical black pudding.
From the touristic point of view, there are several monasteries worth the visit, and very good spots. We went to the Real Monasterio de las Huelgas, and took the guided tour which I really recommend to see the different rooms and the two cloisters.
Then, it was time for Vitoria. It is the southernmost province of Euskadi, and also the least known one. Just a couple of hours there were enough to visit the old town and get a feeling of the city, accompanied by a local friend. The first stop in Euskadi started showing us a pattern in most of the cities in the region: polished streets and lively old towns.
Bilbao is one of the biggest cities in Spain and one of the most industrial ones in the region. Yet another city with river (did I mention I like these?), full of warm people which made us not notice the wind and rain that accompanied us during our visit. You cannot miss here the “Ensanche” (where you can still find some jewels in form of old palaces in the middle of tall buildings), the city centre is also really nice and full of people who actually live there.
The surroundings are also worth a visit. The famous “Puente Colgante” de Portugalete links Las Arenas de Getxo and Portugalete over the river. Constructed by a pupil from Mr.Eiffel, it is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage.
Last but not least, one can enjoy nice food (anchovies, tuna,…) with a great Txakoli wine in the Old Port of Alkorta together with an amazing view from Bilbao, the river, and the very close mountains behind the city.
After having visited Bilbao, it was time to drive east towards San Sebastián. The best option if you can afford one day here is to invest it in enjoying the coast between these two big cities. There you can find lots of scattered towns in a breathtaking orography. Some of the places we stopped in were Bermeo, Mundaka (beloved by the surfers due to its almost perennial wave – not when we went, though!), Elantxobe (so small that the main square needs to turn to let the bus turn around!), and the night caught us before getting to Getaria.
And finally we arrived to our last stop: Donosti/San Sebastián. In opposition to Bilbao, Donosti is open to the see. There are two mountains in each corner of La Concha beach, which are also surrounded by the water and when the wind blows from the north, the water hitting the rocks everywhere offer an amazing spectacle… or at least that is what the travelguide and the locals say, because (lucky us) when we were there the wind blew from the South, which meant no wave at all, no water hitting in the rocks, etc.
(Even) More pictures in this slideshow.