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This mix of bullfights, exhibitions and dancing is particularly noteworthy in Seville, Úbeda and the Albaicín quarter of Granada. In Torremolinos it closes the summer season in festive style.

These take place during the summer months all around the region.

Festivals centre on re-enactments of Christian take-overs of various towns throughout the year.

The most famous of these takes place in Granada from late June to early July.

Taking part in one of these local festivals is an experience no visitor will forget – almost every community has its own romería . Usually, the programme involves a colourful pilgrimage to a shrine outside of town, followed by days of merrymaking. The name may recall ancient pilgrimages, when devotees walked to Rome (see El Rocío’s Romería).

This feast is important in many parts of Andalucía. In celebration of John the Baptist, midsummer fireworks and bonfires seem to be the rule in most communities.

Holy Week is observed in every town and village in the region, with dramatic and spectacular processions, especially in Seville. Effigies of Christ and the Virgin are carried through the streets on huge floats, sometimes accompanied by music. The people, dressed in traditional outfits, either maintain penitential silence or express their commiseration with the suffering Lord and His mournful Mother (see Seville Cathedral & La Giralda).

The “Sherry Triangle” (see Málaga and Cádiz Provinces) celebrates their fortified wines at various times, notably in Jerez.

The patron of sailors is all-important in coastal communities. Statues of the Virgin are put onboard a decorated fishing boat and floated out to sea and back again, amid flowers, fireworks, music and cheering. Thus the waters are blessed for the coming year.

Celebrations of the fruit of the vine occur from April to September, when La Vendimia (grape harvest) takes place.