SPANISH FESTIVITIES

What do you know about Spanish festivals?

Miss Alos

LO: To learn about Spanish festivities.

• http://www.map-of-spain.co.uk/maps-of-spain/spain/map-of-spain2.jpg

San Mateo, La Rioja

September (around the 21st, the Day of San Mateo). Logrono, La Rioja. Harvesting festivities of one of the most renown wine regions in Spain. The Rioja is the center of a very important wine culture.

La Tomatina

August. Buñol. Valencia.Every year around 30,00 people descend on the Spanish town of Buñol (in the Valencia region of Spain) to throw more than 240,000 pounds of tomatoes at each other as part of the La Tomatina festival.

Las Fallas

March. Valencia. This Fiesta dates from the Middle Ages, but it did not acquire the personality we know today until the middle of the last century. The festivites include a nighttime parade; a procession of the old towns of Valencia; the offerings of flowers to Nuestra Senora de los Desamparados (Our Lady of the Forsaken), patroness of the city; and the famous "Nit del Foc" (Night of the Fire), on which all the "fallas" (grotesque and humorous scenes made up of carboard figures) are burned.

Los San Fermines

• Celebrated in the the city of Pamplona. From 12:00, 6 July til 14th July.• The opening of the fiesta is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic

chupinazo.• The closure is marked with the singing of the Pobre de Mí. • Encierro or running with the bulls most famous.• Saint Fermin statue paraded around the town accompanied by

dancers and street entertainers, such as the Gigantes (giant-sized figures who represent the King and Queen of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America) and the Cabezudos (the Bigheads).

• The most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. • Over 1,000,000 people come to watch this festival.(From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ferm%C3%ADn).

San Juan

Hogueras de San JuanJune 20 to June 29. Alicante, Valencia. A series of ancient rituals which were followed on this, the shortest night of the year, when light triumphs over darkness, have been studied in minute detail in the work of Baroja. In these rituals, the essential features are the sun, fire and water. Around the feast of San Juan the streets are often decorated with branches and leaves, especially the balconies of young girls in love, who are serenaded; pines and poplars are planted; pilgrimages ('romerias') are undertaken; straw effiges are burnt; the herb thyme is blessed; and 'sanjuanera' songs are sung.

Feria de Abril/April Fair

It happens in April in Seville, Andalucia.

Morning, evening and night - the height being at midday during the long cavalcade of riders, and late at night when the spirit takes over the thousand throats of the "cantaores" (flamenco singers) and the legs and arms of the "bailaoras" (dancers) with their four sevillanas. From http://www.spain-info.com/Culture/festivals.htm.

Spanish Historic Timeline

1100 BC. Phoenician traders establish colony at Cádiz in southern Iberia.

228 BC. Carthaginians occupy southern and eastern Iberia.

218-220 BC. Romans defeat Carthage in Second Punic War and occupy Iberian peninsula.

74. Inhabitants of Iberia are granted full Roman citizenship.

409. Visigoths occupy Iberian peninsula.

711. Combined Arab and Berber force from northern Africa cross Strait of Gibraltar to occupy Iberian peninsula.

(From http://www.spain-info.com/History/timeline.htm)

Spanish Historic Timeline756. Independent Emirate is established in Iberia, with

Córdoba as its capital.

913. Having re-taken territories in northern Spain, Christians establish capital in León.

1013. Powerful Caliphate of Córdoba breaks up due to internal strife; Moorish Spain split into small feuding kingdoms.

1212. Decisive Christian victory at battle of Navas de Tolosa spells the beginning of the end of Moorish rule in Spain.

(From http://www.spain-info.com/History/timeline.htm)

Spanish Historic Timeline1492. King Fernando and Queen Isabel's army capture

Granada after a long siege, the final defeat of the Moors in Spain. Jews are forced to convert to Christianity; those who refuse are expelled from Spain. Christopher Columbus sets sail on his voyage of discovery

1702-14. War of Spanish Succession. Bourbon dynasty accedes to Spanish throne.1808-14. Peninsular War. Spaniards rise against Napoleon's occupying force. Combination of guerilla tactics and support from Wellington's army end in French defeat.

(From http://www.spain-info.com/History/timeline.htm)

Spanish Historic Timeline1898. Spanish American War. Spain loses Cuba and

Philippines.

1931. Spanish king is forced to abdicate. Spain becomes a republic.  

1936-39. Spanish Civil War. Bloody conflict ends with General Franco's victory. Dictatorship established.

1975. Franco dies, Juan Carlos de Borbón is proclaimed king. Spain becomes constitutional monarchy. Democracy would bring membership of the European Community.

(From http://www.spain-info.com/History/timeline.htm)

Spanish Historic Timeline

1982. Spain joins NATO, becoming a member of a mainstream European organization.

1995. Spain joins the European Community.

2004. Change of government. (From http://www.spain-info.com/History/timeline.htm)

 

A quick Spanish quiz

• What is the capital of Spain?• What is the key ingredient of paella?• Can you name a Spanish drink?• Can you name another Spanish city?• What is the set of islands in the Mediterranean

called?• What kind of government does Spain have?• How many people live in Spain?• How many people speak Spanish in the world?