A week of festivities, gala parades, conquests and reconquests bring the streets of Moraira to fever pitch, coinciding as they do with the start of the tourist season and the celebration of one of this Alicante town's most deeply rooted festivals: the Moors and Christians Festival.
Around the second or third week of June, the proclamation by the Councillor for Festivities signals the start of the celebrations, in which choral music and the presentation of standards on the Castle esplanade are a further sign that the festivities are under way.
Parades, the traditional offering of flowers to Christ the Most Holy, which last year was transferred to the Castle's Hermitage, the firing of harquebuses and the spectacular night-time battle that represents the Moors landing on l'Ampolla beach... These are all part and parcel of the festivities - let's not forget the taking of the castle - that will take place in the coming days on the streets of Moraira and for sure no self-respecting tourist or local resident will not want to miss the smallest detail of such an emblematic celebration.
A second representation takes place the following day in the same setting, this one during the daytime, involving the Christian reconquest. On the beach, everybody makes themselves comfortable on the sand to watch the battle in which the Christian forces took back their lands.
To round the event off, a colourful and highly attractive gala parade brings Moraira's Moors and Christians festivities to a fabulous close until the following year.If you want to watch it, it's advisable to go early to find a good spot, as this event is very popular and nobody wants to miss it. Kids will be surprised by the different marching drills of the “filàs”, the horses that are adorned for battle, and the gaily decorated floats that spit fire and much more.
On the first Saturday of every month, the Jalón Town Square hosts its traditional earth market, which strives to make the region's traditional home-made foodstuffs more appreciated: marmalades, sweets, cheese, fruit and vegetables, meat products…
The month of October is when Calpe holds an event that people have been looking forward to all year: bands of music, the raising of standards in the Castle, the offering, the disembarkation or the great Parade are the highlights of the traditional Moors and Christians festivities in honour of the "Santísimo Cristo del Sudor" (the Most Holy Christ of Sweat).
A meeting point for artisans, visitors and neighbors, who have the opportunity to attend lectures, workshops and activities related to health, organic farming, ethical banking.