The feast of St John
Daily Telegraph
Published on Saturday May 17, 2008
From the mountains to the beaches, St John’s Day is a time of celebration in Spain. Chris Alden follows the light.
On the island of Menorca, thousands of gin-drinking revellers crowd into the squares and throw hazelnuts at each other, waiting for a troop of black-clad horsemen to parade through the city, performing equestrian feats and tricks. On the beaches of the Costa Brava, party-goers light bonfires and leap over them, before staying up to swim in the sea as the sun rises. In a mountain village in central Spain, villagers walk barefoot on hot coals. In the city of Soria, people are getting ready to party in the streets – and will be partying for a few more nights yet.
Many ways of celebrating, but the reason is the same. This is the festival of John the Baptist – San Juan in Spanish, Sant Joan in Catalan – whose birthday, June 24, happily coincides with Midsummer’s Day, offering an excuse for a series of wild summer festivals all over Spain.
Some say this is a pagan midsummer rite, when revellers use fire and light to mark the shortest night of the year. Others focus on the Christian nativity of St John, harbinger of Christ. Either way, it’s a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness – and that, inevitably, means staying up the whole night long.
Perhaps the most famous of the St John festivals is the one in Ciutadella, Menorca, which attracts huge crowds who come to watch the “caixers” – horsemen dressed in formal black outfits, riding their indigenous, jet-black steeds through the cobbled streets of the city.
The last Sunday before the festival is known as the “Dia des Be”, or day of the ram. For this dramatic spectacle, a man enters the city carrying a sheep on his shoulders, accompanied by the “caixers”; he in turn pays a visit to the notable people of the city to invite them to perform roles in the celebrations to come.
Then in the afternoon of June 23, the riders demonstrate their skills in the main square. Here, in the Plaça des Born, people dance to “jaleo” music while the riders perform “caragols” – manoeuvres not dissimilar to wheelies, in which the horses rear up on their hind legs as they run, their front hooves reaching dramatically into the air.
After an hour or two of this, the cavalcade of riders heads to the local church of Sant Joan de Missa, in countryside outside the city; and even as vespers is celebrated in the church, a “hazelnut war” breaks out in the city among party-goers who have been drinking “pomada”, a mixture of gin and lemonade. At about 9pm, the horsemen return to the cathedral square, cheered on by the enthusiastic hordes.
Finally, on St John’s day itself, June 24, the riders engage in medieval-style equestrian games. These games include the “ensortilla”, in which two horsemen compete to spear a single target with their lance; “rompre ses carotes”, which is a joust between two riders, one of whom is carrying a shield target and the other of whom is trying to break it; and finally the “correr abraçats”, a tough test in which two horses must gallop together with their riders joining hands and embracing.
The trials take place in the morning; but the games proper are held in the evening, before the inevitable fireworks display brings the festival to a close.
Elsewhere in Spain, fire is a key element of the San Juan celebrations – a symbol of the conquering light. In Alicante, people light bonfires on Midsummer’s Eve across the city – and, in a tradition heavily reminiscent of the “Las Fallas” festival held in March in nearby Valencia – they build elaborate puppets called ninots. These puppets cost thousands of euros to create, and reach to several storeys high – but all are thrown on to the flames at midnight, except one, saved from the flames by popular vote.
The festival itself lasts from June 20 to June 24, with dancing in drinking in tents around the city, and daily “mascletàs” fireworks displays at 2pm – which, as in Valencia, are more notable for their ear-splitting noise than their visual appeal.
Throughout the east coast of Spain – in Torrevieja near Alicante, in Barcelona itself, and even in more touristy resorts such as Llorret de Mar – locals head to the beach on the evening of June 23 to light bonfires, enjoy barbecues and dancing, and, perhaps in a nod to John the Baptist, stay up for an early-morning swim.
Most of the St John festivals are celebrated in eastern Spain, where, looking toward the sunrise, merrymakers can welcome the first sunlight of Midsummer’s Day. So it’s perhaps surprising that the festival is celebrated with particular abandon in La Coruňa, one of the most westerly cities of Spain.
But in fact this is one of the most atmospheric places to celebrate the San Juan festivities – because here you can celebrate the last sunset on Midsummer’s Eve.
On June 23, the eve of St John’s day, practically the entire city of La Coruňa heads out on to the beach – where groups of people eat barbecued sardines, near bonfires lit to scare the demons away; people jump over the bonfire three times as part of the ritual of purification by fire.
Finally, just as in Alicante so many hundreds of miles away across Spain, fireworks are let off, and people gather around an immense bonfire before returning to the city to party the night away in the bars.
But you don’t need a beach to celebrate midsummer in Spain. On the evening of June 23 in the village of San Pedro Manrique, near Soria, villagers celebrate the “Paso del Fuego”, in which they walk barefoot over oak embers. The bonfire is lit in the evening, burns quickly as people dance around it, and by midnight a group of young men perform the firewalk – often carrying someone on their shoulders. The success of the feat is dedicated not to St John, but to the Virgin Mary.
Next day, a group of young women wearing wickerwork headresses, known as “móndidas”, parade through the village as the streets are decorated with branches and leaves. The festival is said to commemorate the disappearance of 100 virgins.
In the nearby city of Soria, the St John festival is even more riotous: a six-night party, each part of which has its own special character and accompanying songs. The first night, the “Pregón”, roughly translates to the British tradition of “pre-drinks drinks”, being a kind of warm-up festival as people drink and dance in the city centre.
Next day is the “Saca” – when bulls are herded through the streets of the city; the following day, the “Día de Toros”, sees 12 bullfights. On the following day, “tajadas”, or cuts of meat from the bulls, are distributed among the crowd; the choicest cuts are auctioned off piece by piece, often for hundreds of euros, as people crowd around bonfires and continue celebrating in the bars of the city. On Sunday morning, cauldrons of beef stew are paraded through the streets by people dressed in local costume, and there are more bullfights.
One way to enjoy the atmosphere of the festival but also to get some sleep at night, if that’s what you prefer, would be stay in a hotel just outside of the city. Hotel Valonsadero is a rural hotel and restaurant with idyllic views over surrounding hills where the young bulls are bred, and it’s only 15 minutes’ drive from the town centre.
That way you’ll be refreshed by the time the festival is brought to a close on Monday afternoon with another parade, the “Bailas”, when people are soaked with water from the balconies of the streets.
At the end of the evening, revellers arrive in the monastery of San Polo, just outside the town, where people jump in the River Duero, sing festival songs – and, amid the inevitable fireworks, remember the passing of another year.
Where to enjoy the St John festivals
Celebrate St John’s day whether you’re in Alicante in south-eastern Spain or La Coruňa in the far north-west.
Ciutadella, Menorca
Festival dates: June 22 (Day of the Ram); June 23-24 (festival proper).
Tourist information: Plaza de la Catedral 5. Phone: +34 971 382693. Email: infomenorcaciutadella@cime.es. Web: www.e-menorca.org.
Hogueras de San Juan, Alicante
Festival dates: June 20-24
Tourist information: C/ Portugal 17 bajo. Phone: +34 965 929802. Email: alicantecentro@touristinfo.net. Web: www.alicanteturismo.com
Bonfires of St John, La Coruňa
Festival date: night of June 23
Tourist information: Plaza de María Pita. Phone: +34 618 790665. Email: infoturismo@aytolacoruna.es. Web: www.turismocoruna.com
Firewalk and Las Móndidas festivals, San Pedro Monrique
Festival dates: June 23-24
Tourist information (Soria): C/ Medinaceli 2. Phone: +34 975 212052. Email: oficinadeturismodesoria@jcyl.es. Web: www.sanpedromonrique.net
Festivals of St John, Soria
Festival dates: June 25-30
Tourist information: C/ Medinaceli 2. Phone: +34 975 212052. Email: oficinadeturismodesoria@jcyl.es. Web: www.sanjuaneando.com
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