FIESTAS IN HUÉTOR TÁJAR

Since Thursday Huétor Tájar has been celebrating its May feria and fiestas in honour of San Isidro Labrador (there always has to be a saintly excuse). At the Nuevo Recinta Ferial, a vast area on the edge of town reserved for fiestas and markets, a huge fairground has appeared and numerous large marquees have been erected, housing bars with kitchens to feed and water the multitude. Most of these have stages so that live music can be played all night.

On Saturday morning there was a Romeria (pilgrimage) through the town ending up at the fairground where, in the Town Hall’s marquee, paella and beer was provided for all. In the evening there was a horse fair and handsome young men arrived proudly riding their beautiful Andalucian horses. Others came in immaculately turned out horse drawn carriages.

The festivities go on all night but today, when we visited again at lunchtime, there were more children around and the fairground rides were busy while the adults were propping up the bars enjoying cerveza y pinchos (beer and kebabs). Tonight, after a mass in honour of San Isidro, there will be a firework display in the Plaza de Andalucia and then everyone will go back to the fairground to party all night once again. Not surprisingly tomorrow is a public holiday in Huétor Tájar and all the shops will be closed.

Despite the economic crisis and dire warnings from the EU about Spain’s financial situation, this country still seems hell bent on enjoying itself and spending money.

DIA DE LA CRUZ

On the 3rd of May, Dia de la Cruz (Day of the Cross) is celebrated in many towns and villages in Andalucia. In Loja The children of the town created decorative crosses and gather in the Plaza de la Constitucion. They then carry their crosses through the Town collecting money for charity and end up in the Peña de Flamenca for a drink and sandwich. This is another noisy and colourful event typical of Southern Spain.

SUNDAY AT RIO FRIO

Rio Frio, just off the A92 west of Loja, is famous for its trout hatcheries and clear river waters. On Sundays it is a popular outing for people from Loja who come to stroll along the riverside paths, visit the little craft market and enjoy lunch, particularly fresh trout in one of the many restaurants. Our grand daughters enjoyed the outing but Izzy lost a sandal when she paddled at the edge of the fast flowing river. Digby rushed downstream along the side of the river to where the sandal had got trapped in reeds on the opposite bank. He rolled up his jeans and waded across to retrieve the sandal. The incident proved amusing to the onlookers. One old boy remarked to Digby as he held out his walking stick to help Digby get out of the river “Now you know why it’s called Rio Frio” (Cold River).

ROMERIA DE AMISTAD

Today, 1st May, Loja celebrates the Romeria de Amistad, Pilgrimage of Friendship, in the fields of Venta de Rayo. This is a pretty spot backed by the Sierra de Loja and looking towards the olive hills by the Lake of Iznajar. There are some good walking routes from here which we must try out later. When we arrived this morning many people, who had presumably arrived last night, had already set up camp and were enjoying picnics in the sunshine.
Soon most of the town seemed to turn up in a procession of brightly coloured floats blasting out traditional Spanish Sevillana music, or on horseback.
Although there were temporary bars set up on the site most of the public came well stocked with food and drink. Soon the umbtrellas and tables were erected by the parked floats and the crowd set about enjoying themselves. It has been a beautiful day and the occasion was full of colour. No doubt the festivities will continue late into the night when there will be live music to entertain the gathering.