Valencia Spain

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Spanish Fiestas

Moors and Christians in La Vila Joiosa

The origins of the fiesta are to be found in the miracle that took place in July of the year 1538, when the Berber pirate Zallé Arraez attempted to invade the town and a terrible storm broke out over the district causing the River Amadorio to burst its banks destroying the Saracen fleet that was to be found at its mouth, a miracle that was attributed to Saint Martha, for which reason she was named the patron saint of the town.

A century later, when the region suffered a great drought, the miracle known as the Milagro de las Lágrimas de Santa Marta (Miracle of the Tears of Saint Martha) took place: on 8th May 1653 while a mass was being held, the statue of the saint started to shed tears right at the same time that Felipe IV (Philip IV) was signing a document authorising the construction of the Relleu reservoir. In 1753, on the occasion of the centenary of the miracle, the municipal authorities agreed upon the celebration of various different festivities thus giving rise to the Moros y Cristianos fiestas of La Vila Joiosa.

Discover this fiesta in which twenty-two companies, eleven Christian and eleven Moorish, participate in spectacular parades and embassies and recapture the castle, but without a shadow of doubt the peak event is the Disembarkation of the Moors which takes place in the early hours of 28th July and consists in a naval battle between the Moorish and Christian vessels, after which the "Moors" throw themselves into the water and swim to the shore in order to take the castle by storm, while listening to the music and incessant shots of the blunderbusses.

Nor can you miss the Official Entrance of the Music Bands on the first day of the fiesta, the solemn Procession of Santa Marta or the pyro-musical firework display that is set off from the beach known as Playa Centro.