Fiestas in Spain: The Major Festivals on the Coast

Every town on the Spanish coast has at least one major fiesta a year, usually in honour of its patron saint, and the biggest ones take over the whole town for a week. The calendar is fairly predictable: bonfires for San Juan in late June, sea processions for the Virgen del Carmen on 16 July, Moors and Christians battles in summer and autumn, and Holy Week processions in spring. This guide goes coast by coast through the fiestas that matter most on the Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol, the Costa Cálida and Mallorca, with the time of year for each.

Exact dates for most fiestas are set each year by the town council. Where a fiesta always falls on the same date, we give it; otherwise we give the week or the month.

How fiestas work in Spain

Most fiestas are fiestas patronales, held around the feast day of the town's patron saint. A typical programme runs for several days: a religious procession, parades, fireworks, open-air concerts, and evenings when the whole town is out in the street. Larger towns also have a feria, a fairground with music, food stands and rides.

Some fiesta days are also public holidays. Spain has up to 14 paid public holidays a year: national and regional ones, plus two local holidays that each town council chooses, usually tied to its main fiesta. On a local holiday, the town hall, banks, notaries and most offices in that town are closed, while the neighbouring town may be working normally. It is worth checking the local calendar before booking a notary appointment or a visit to the town hall.

Costa Blanca

Hogueras de San Juan, Alicante (20–24 June)

Alicante's main fiesta. Every neighbourhood builds a large satirical monument of wood and papier-mâché, the city fills with parades and daily firecracker displays (mascletàs), and at midnight on 24 June the monuments are burned: first the official one in front of the town hall, then the rest across the city. The Hogueras are a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest. See Alicante.

Moros y Cristianos, Villajoyosa (last week of July)

Moors and Christians fiestas are held in dozens of towns in Alicante province, with parades of costumed troops and staged battles. Villajoyosa's version, in honour of Santa Marta, is different: the Moorish troops land from the sea, and the battle is fought on the town beach at dawn. It recalls a pirate attack on the town in the 16th century. See Villajoyosa.

Habaneras, Torrevieja (late July)

Torrevieja has held its International Habaneras and Polyphony Competition since 1955. Choirs from around the world compete with habaneras, songs brought back from Cuba by salt-trade sailors. In 2026 it gathered more than 700 singers from 13 countries; besides the competition in the theatre, there are free open-air concerts. See Torrevieja.

Fiestas Mayores Patronales, Benidorm (November)

Benidorm's main fiesta falls outside the summer season: five days from the second weekend of November, in honour of the Virgen del Sufragio, with the re-enactment of the finding of her image on the beach, parades, fireworks and concerts. See Benidorm and Finestrat.

Costa del Sol

Feria de Málaga (August)

The largest summer feria in southern Spain. It opens with fireworks over the port and runs for about nine days in mid-August. By day, the historic centre fills with music, flamenco dresses and verdiales bands; at night, the fairground at Cortijo de Torres stays open until morning. The feria commemorates the entry of the Catholic Monarchs into Málaga in August 1487. See Málaga.

Semana Santa, Málaga (spring)

Holy Week in Málaga is one of the largest in Spain and a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest. The tronos, the floats carrying religious images, are among the biggest in the country and need well over a hundred bearers each. The dates follow Easter, so they move between late March and April.

Noche de San Juan (23 June)

On the shortest night of the year, the beaches along the whole coast fill with people, bonfires and late barbecues. In Málaga, figures known as júas are burned on the beaches at midnight, and many people go into the sea at midnight for luck.

Virgen del Carmen (16 July)

The patron saint of fishermen. In the fishing districts and ports of the Costa del Sol, from El Palo in Málaga to Fuengirola, Marbella and Estepona, her image is carried into the sea and then sails along the coast in a procession of decorated boats.

Costa Cálida

Carthagineses y Romanos, Cartagena (second half of September)

Ten days that recall the Second Punic War, when Roman legions took Carthago Nova, today's Cartagena, in 209 BC. Some fifty troops and legions in costume take part in parades, a camp with daily events, and a re-enactment of the battle. The fiesta has been declared of International Tourist Interest. See Cartagena.

Semana Santa, Cartagena (spring)

Cartagena's Holy Week is known for its order and precision: the processions move in step to a drum beat, and the floats are covered in flowers and light. It is also a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest.

Fiestas de Primavera, Murcia (the week after Easter)

Murcia's spring fiestas start on the Tuesday after Easter with the Bando de la Huerta, when the whole city dresses in traditional farming costume, and end with the Entierro de la Sardina, a night parade of floats that finishes with the burning of a giant sardine. See Murcia.

Virgen del Carmen, San Pedro del Pinatar (16 July)

On the Mar Menor, the image of the Virgen del Carmen is carried from San Pedro del Pinatar to the harbour at Lo Pagán, then sails across the lagoon escorted by dozens of decorated boats. Carnations are thrown into the water in memory of those lost at sea. See San Pedro del Pinatar.

Mallorca

Sant Antoni (16–17 January)

Mallorca's big winter fiesta. On the night of 16 January, villages across the island light bonfires (foguerons), grill sausages over them, and dance with the dimonis, devils in costume. On 17 January, animals are blessed in front of the churches. Sa Pobla, Manacor and Artà hold the best-known celebrations.

Sant Sebastià, Palma (19–20 January)

Palma's patron saint. On the evening of 19 January, the Revetla, the squares of the old town fill with bonfires, grills and free concerts; 20 January is a public holiday in the city.

Es Firó, Sóller (May)

On the Monday after the second Sunday of May, Sóller re-enacts the attack by corsairs on 11 May 1561 and the town's defence. The whole town takes part, in costume, with the battles fought in the port and in the streets. It is Mallorca's best-known Moors and Christians fiesta.

Festa de l'Estendard, Palma (31 December)

One of the oldest civic festivals in Europe, marking the Christian conquest of Mallorca in 1229. The royal standard is carried from the town hall to the cathedral, and the Colcada, a ceremonial ride, passes through the old town. See Mallorca.

Christmas, New Year and Three Kings

Christmas in Spain lasts until 6 January. The family dinner is on Christmas Eve, Nochebuena. On New Year's Eve, people eat twelve grapes on the twelve strokes of midnight, one per stroke, for luck in each month of the coming year.

The biggest day for children is 6 January, Three Kings' Day (Día de Reyes), when presents are traditionally given. On the evening of 5 January, every town holds a Cabalgata de Reyes, a parade in which the Three Kings throw sweets to the crowd; in some coastal towns, such as Alicante and Cartagena, the Kings arrive by boat. The day ends with roscón de Reyes, a ring-shaped cake with a small figure hidden inside.

The coastal fiesta calendar at a glance

For the towns themselves, our pages on the Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol and the Costa Cálida describe each area along the coast.