The Alfonsadas festival in Calatayud

It is an understatement to say that Spain is infused with history. And that history is constantly evident in the culture, customs, and monuments. It is visible in the historical cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Sometimes it can be seen in the ruins of Iberian or Roman cities; or in the hulking remnants of castles that were once dominant bastions of power.
The history of Spain also comes alive through the many festivals that celebrate various historical events.

I more or less blundered into the Alfonsadas festival in Calatayud. This celebrates the conquest of the city by Alfonso I in June of the year 1120. (I know that some amateur fact checker monitoring my posts is going to encounter the Wikipedia entry for Calatayud and tell me that no, it was 1119. Sorry. All I can say is that you cannot believe everything you read in Wikipedia!)

At one level, one might just shrug their shoulders and say, “Ah, yet another festival in Spain with a medieval motif. Heck, there are such festivals everywhere. We even have the “Renaissance Festival” every year in Colorado.” But remember that this is an example of a community celebrating local history and the imprint of events and cultural history. This is more like going to Concord in Massachusetts and seeing remembrances of the role that town played in the American Revolution, than a “Renaissance Festival” in Colorado!
Well, of course any festival is also an opportunity to party, to eat, to play, and to people watch. I have some pictures to share that represent what I saw there. It was a lot of fun:

There were exhibitions,

Food and shopping,

And a town packed with locals and visitors, with costumed participants, and families just there to enjoy themselves and have a good time!

No impressive photos, no remarkable stories to tell. So just scroll through the pictures and imagine how much fun I had!

Of course, one of the important challenges when you have a festival in a city of narrow, winding streets, is logistical. With many streets completely shut off for vendor stands, exhibition space, etc., traffic needed to be controlled and in many cases rerouted.
This portable traffic signal was one mechanism to handle the cars!

Hard to imagine a commemoration of a twelfth century conquest without some sort of sword play. Here some re-enactment folks head up to the “Plaza de la leña” where a sword fighting competition is due to take place.

I could not watch this without thinking of my old, sadly departed friend, Jeff. He liked nothing better than making chain mail and bashing around with swords…

Some prepared with companions.

Some got ready on their own.

And for one swordsman, it was a good luck kiss and “now put on your helmet and get with it!”

Referees watched over the matches.

And spectators looked on.

(I don’t know if the woman in the background is open-mouthed in shock at a brutal lunge… or just yawning! Hey guys! when is the real action going to start!)

The referee signals a point.

Calatayud also had a thriving Jewish community in the middle ages.

This group is wearing medallions with the star of David.

But now, let’s head down to the Plaza de San Andrés where as in the earlier festival in Xàtiva, there is a display of various raptors.

Of course, timing is everything. Here in Calatayud I got to see an exhibition of these birds of prey.

Two men, each wearing a large thick glove on one hand, took the birds out one by one and dazzled the crowd with a show of the birds flying from the arm of one to the arm of the other.

Some of these birds had huge wingspans! (and they all had dangerous talons!)

At one point, they had a bunch of kids get involved. They formed a line as the raptor was to fly over their outstretched arms.
But of course not all hunting was done with birds back then by any means! There was also an archery exhibition.

He shot balloons and other targets standing, kneeling, and over his shoulder.

All around
there were people of all ages playing a part in the festival.

Of course inevitably I was drawn to the food. There were plenty of places to grab something to eat on-site.

Including barbecue…

chips and churros…

There were also booths selling meats, cheese, breads, and all sorts of sweets.

“Chorizo” is not exactly the same thing in Spain, as it is in Mexico and the United States. Here you see signs for spicy chorizo and for sweet chorizo. Often when you buy “chorizo” in Spain, it is what we would call pepperoni.

For any of you who are bi-lingual… yes, you read the sign at the top correctly. Just as in France, some people in Spain eat horse meat. (no, I do not)

And (but of course!) tubs full of olives.

Sweets

Besides food items, there were also a wide variety of handicrafts, perfumes, incense, and jewelry for sale.

But what would a festival like this be if there were not topical play-gear and souvenirs?

Wooden swords for the kids too!

There were lovely replicas of mudejar architecture for sale. Expensive but really well made. Sometimes I wonder if I should have brought one home in my suitcase!

During the festival there was an overabundance of things to see. Period musicians, jugglers, rides for the kids, etc.

Of course, a lot of the fun was just watching the people- both attendees and participants in the shows.

On the right, a peasant with genuine medieval digital camera.

Remember that Spain’s history includes hundreds of years of “Moorish” domination. A history that is not forgotten. The Moors brought irrigation, and many of the foods grown in Spain today, as well a distinctive architectural style.

People were friendly, and also loved to play their parts. I saw the guy in the picture below sipping a beer. His wife nudged him and pointed me out, seeing that I was taking pictures. She held his beer as he posed solemnly. (Though I must say it was not very Moorish of him to be sipping beer!)