Unique Spanish Festivals: From Bull Runs to Tomato Fights
TLDR Spain is home to a variety of unique festivals, including the Running of the Bowls in Pamplona, the La Tomatina Festival in Buñol, the Fias Festival in Valencia, and many more, offering visitors a chance to experience thrilling events and cultural traditions throughout the year.
Timestamped Summary
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The unique Spanish festivals are unlike any other in the world, and can be experienced by anyone, regardless of the size of the community or city, and can be found almost any month of the year.
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The Running of the Bowls festival in Pamplona attracts about a million visitors a year and consists of week-long celebrations, including a short daily run where runners race through narrow streets to the bullring, although it is quite dangerous with 15 people having been killed in the last 100 years, whereas the La Tomatina Festival in Buñol is a giant tomato fight that lasts for one hour and requires a ticket to participate.
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The Fias Festival in Valencia involves creating giant papier-mache sculptures, followed by a fireworks display and the burning of the sculptures on the last night of the festival, while La Noche de San Juan is a celebration held on beaches in Spain on June 23rd, featuring bonfires and drinking.
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In Menorca, the Caragol de Borne festival involves riders on black horses rearing up in the middle of large crowds, while El Colacho in Castrillo de Murcia features a man dressed in red and yellow jumping over babies to protect them from evil.
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The annual wine fight in Haro involves getting drenched in wine, changing into permanently purple clothes, and then returning to the middle of town to drink more wine.
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The Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme is a festival in Galicia where people who narrowly missed death are carried in open coffins by their family members to the local church for a thanksgiving, followed by a procession to the cemetery and a party in the middle of town.
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The town of Piorno in Extremadura holds the Haramplis Festival, where a devil-like character is pelted with turnips and wears body armor to protect himself.