Hogueras de San Juan, Alicante, in June is a midsummer festival with bonfires on the beach along the coast, sound stages, swimming at midnight, beauty pageants, gastronomy, dance, fireworks galore, giants, parades, and more.
Large bonfires are created with timber pallets, old furniture, anything that will burn, as a welcome to summer and partying up big time.
Share hot chocolate and picnic food, which they bring to the beach, while teens and children jump over the fires. The “burning” (or “La Crema”) is the culmination of the festival, which if you haven’t been before, is an awesome experience. The festival has been celebrated in its present form since 1928.
From June 20 to 24, in Alicante, there are about ninety bonfire commissions called barracas and racos of the Hogueras.
Barracas are for people who contribute to the event, whereas racos are open to the entire district and admission is free. Giant hogueras depict events of the year; societal, political, and economic views with sardonic humor are associated with the barracas and racos.
They were amazing—made of paper, cardboard, and mud (really?), plus these days polyurethane, over a skeleton of timber struts, then smoothed out to have the same finish as a ceramic Venetian mask, and built in large-scale, from twenty-five to over one hundred feet tall.
On June 22, we got to Alicante by 7:45 p.m. in the evening—it was hot, especially down in the underground car park by the marina. As we walked toward the main area of the festival, we could see huge caricatures and monuments, the hogueras, normally in squares or crossroads with a huge marquee along side it.
There was a party atmosphere on every street corner, seeing people queuing for the barracas and racos. Instead of joining in, we decided to do a grand tour around the city on foot to seek out as many Hogueras monuments as we could until we ran out of energy. After about 10 our legs gave out.
The next day, parked, we hit the town at noon. This, if you’ve never been in Alicante for this festival, has to be seen to be believed. There were thousands of locals, visitors from other regions, holiday makers, boys and girls, babies, and the stroller brigade. The hot sun, open-top buses rented out for the occasion, girls in short skirts throwing freebies to the visitors from the open-air, top-decker buses, panama hats, t-shirts, fans, Frisbees. We noticed a stand giving away free Anis Tenis. Waaah! It sure sounded alcoholic. We tried it—yumm. I could get to like it a lot, like ouzo or rak, but better.
At the other end of the street were more bands playing. And then, the highlight: a fireworks display at 1 p.m.
Local police had cordoned off areas of road around a central roundabout and thousands were waiting for the display. Rocket shots were fired into the air … and a barrage of gunfire it sounded like, plus big booms of cannon fire. Smoke and lightning flash seared the blue sky.
The fireworks shook the ground, like an earthquake and sounding like bomb blasts rocking the foundations of Alicante streets! Perhaps they turned off the seismic monitors for the area? Reminder to oneself: next time, bring earplugs.
That night, we were at Santa Pola beach, where the festival is celebrated in style and no one stays at home. Everyone was there. Fire-juggling, bonfires, children, and some energetic parents and hopeful pensioners jumping over the bonfires at the beach then hopping in for a swim afterward.
A concert-size stand was built for the night, with enough sound equipment to shame Glastonbury or Woodstock. Live bands played the expected Spanish/Latino tracks, including a tribute Blues Brothers band that did a decent job.
On June 24, we were going to get into Alicante early to catch the midnight fireworks show … hmmm! Never thinking that on such a night, it might do to get there really early. The police had cordoned off even more of the city. Thankfully, we found a car park, quite close to the action, a few blocks away from the central market.
