Murcia heralds spring with a week of festivities

When it comes to celebrations, the city of Murcia doesn’t waste any time at the start of spring. As soon as the busy Holy Week festivities come to a close on Easter Sunday, the barracas open in many places. In these large tents, Murcians gather to prepare for the first of three festivals of the annual Spring Festivities. The barracas are named after the huts in which the agricultural population lived during the Middle Ages. The first festival of the week harks back to that time. On Tuesday, locals dressed in period clothing parade through the streets and past the barracas, where they enjoy traditional dishes, folk music, and demonstrations of old crafts. The day ends with a large traditional parade. Thursday is reserved for the Flower Parade, which is seen as the symbolic beginning of spring. From lavishly decorated floats, flowers are thrown to the crowds gathered along the street route. A characteristic feature of the floats is how abstract concepts like virtue and vice are represented by life-sized figures. The quantity of flowers "handed out" is so large that almost everyone in the audience can go home with a colorful bouquet. The day concludes with fireworks. The climax of the Spring Festivities takes place on Saturday with the Entierro de la Sardina (the Burial of the Sardine). Everything revolves around the giant sardine, the symbol of fasting, which is brought to the city each year by a nearby municipality. Throughout the week, the enormous fish is paraded for the townspeople to see. Saturday’s grand parade, featuring dozens of floats, has a typical carnival atmosphere with plenty of music. Children especially look forward to the symbolic burial of the sardine because it is customary for thousands of toys to be handed out to the little ones along the parade route. Throughout the entire week, the barracas stay open until midnight, offering food and music. In addition to the mentioned festivals, which are considered the highlights of the week, there are numerous other events in the city, including concerts and sports events.