The 14 best Spanish festivals to enjoy on a trip to Spain

Where: All over Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona and Mallorca

When: January

El Día de los Reyes Magos, or, the Festival of the Kings, is a New Year celebration that’s held in towns and cities across Spain on January 5. It’s a traditional feast day to mark the epiphany (when Jesus was visited by the three kings) and features fireworks, food – such as panettone, pumpkin stew and spiced turkey – colourful parades, and plenty of sweets for little ones.

Three Kings Parade

Where: Tenerife, Canary Islands

When: Two weeks before Ash Wednesday (February or March)

The annual celebration of Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is second only to Rio’s on the world party stage. The main celebrations involve a parade through the streets with a large papier mâché sardine (Mr Carnal). Festival goers are traditionally dressed in dark mourning costumes with unconsolable widows wailing and fainting as they lead Mr Carnal to a funeral pyre on the docks.

Where: Valencia, Costa Blanca

When: March

The five-day Fallas Fiesta in Valencia, Costa Blanca, is celebrated to mark the advent of spring. Each day has its own procession with giant satirical creations (fallas), made from wood and papier mâché, being paraded through Valencia’s Old Town. The festival finishes at midnight on March 19 as the fallas are burned, fireworks explode, and a giant paella is shared amongst festival-goers.

Las Fallas, Valencia

Where: Balearic Islands

When: March

March 1 is a huge calendar event for all four Balearic Islands – Mallorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. It’s a time to celebrate autonomous independence from mainland Spain as residents take to the streets to enjoy artisan food stalls, medieval re-enactments, and parades of gigantes y cabezudos (giants and big heads) made from papier mâché and wearing traditional costume.

Where: Across Spain, including Seville, Murcia, and Alicante

When: Last week of Lent (March or April)

This Easter festival is celebrated during the last week of Lent. Over eight days from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday, processions of floats and effigies (called pasos) are carried through the streets to represent the journey made by Christ to his crucifixion. This is a deeply religious event and many of the pasos are authentic masterpieces made by famous Spanish artists.

Where: Minorca, Balearic Islands

When: April and May

This festival takes place in Minocrca each spring and attracts music lovers from across the globe. Towns, such as Ciutadella, Mahón, and Alaior, hold a variety of indoor and al fresco concerts featuring local groups, and internationally acclaimed jazz and blues musicians. It’s a great way to welcome the warmer weather to a soundtrack of saxophones, trumpets, and Balearic bongo beats.

Minorca Jazz Festival

Where: Andalusia

When: May

The Festival of the May Crosses (Cruces de Mayo) is celebrated throughout the Spanish region of Andalusia, especially in Cordoba. Leading up to May 1, large flower-decorated crosses are constructed in neighbourhood plazas. The crosses are then judged according to their attractiveness as locals enjoy tapas, live flamenco, and glasses of home-brewed sherry.

Where: Coastal regions, especially Catalonia and Valencia

When: June

The Festival of San Juan signals the start of the summer solstice. It’s celebrated across Spain but especially in coastal regions and cities, like Alicante. This is where people head to the beach, build bonfires, and let off firecrackers, before enjoying an early morning sea swim. Organised bonfire parties also mark the occasion with street bands, dancing, and tasty tuna pies and green figs.

Bonfires of St. John

Where: Buñol, Valencia

When: August

This glorified food fight is held on the last Wednesday in August to commemorate a local parade that descended into chaos in the 1940s. These days, travellers come from far and wide to mix with the residents of Buñol – close to Valencia – and throw ripe tomatoes at each other. The event lasts for an hour however, the merry making often goes on long after the mess has been cleared away.

Where: Gran Canaria

When: August/September

Celebrated in Teror – one of the Canaries’ oldest towns – the Fiestas del Pino involve an annual pilgrimage to the north of the island from all over Gran Canaria. It’s a deep-rooted tradition with travellers pushing wooden carts, blowing whistles, and clacking castanets en route to the foot of the Virgin of the Pine Tree where they’ll enjoy tasty chorizo sandwiches and strawberry lemonade.

Where: Fuengirola, Andalusia

When: October

The Feria del Rosario (named after the city’s patron saint) is one of Andalusia’s most important calendar events. Starting on October 6 and ending on Columbus Day (October 12) this is where decorated horse-drawn carriages are paraded throughout the seaside town of Fuengirola. Locals dress up in traditional costumes and fun fairs continue the festivities long into the evening.

Where: Towns and villages across Valencia

When: October

This age-old festival commemorates the battles between the Christians and the Moors that took place from the 8th to the 15th century. Celebrations across the Costa Blanca feature fireworks, music and dancing, as organised teams of Moors and Christians try to outdo each other with elaborate period costumes and mock battles ending in humorous retreats from both sides.

The Moors and Christians Festival

Where: Benidorm, Costa Blanca

When: November

This five-day fiesta celebrates Benidorm's patron saints, El Virgen del Suffrage and San Jaime. Starting from the Friday before the second weekend in November, the Costa Blanca town comes alive to religious reenactments, brass bands, comedy costumes, and fun-filled carnivals and processions. The festivities culminate in a huge pyrotechnic display across Poniente Beach.

Where: Across Spain

When: December

On December 24 families across Spain come together to celebrate Nochebuena – aka Christmas Eve. It’s a time for feasting on Iberian cured hams, stuffed turkey, roasted pork, and grilled seafood as well as seasonal vegetables and extra special rum, cinnamon, and coconut cream cocktails – Coquito. Hotels that are open this time of year will often invite guests to join in the festivities, and witness staff and their families giving thanks around a traditional nativity scene known as a belén.

Join the fiesta on a Spanish holiday