One of the most interesting values of learning a language is the opportunity to travel and meet new people. Here I bring you 6 cultural events that are well worth visiting Spain to experience for yourself. From the most cultural ones, to big parties, these events can be the perfect occasion to come and practice your conversation skills with natives.
San Fermín – Pamplona
San Fermín is celebrated every year between 6th and 14th July. It is the most famous event in Spain and celebrities from many countries go to Pamplona to enjoy the party. In fact, according to Wikipedia, more than 1 million people visit Pamplona each year for this festival.
The most famous activity is without a doubt the running of the bulls, where people run among bulls to drive them to the bullring. It is not something that I would recommend to a foreign visitor, because it is quite dangerous, but you can watch it safely behind a fence.
Whether you like the running of the bulls or not, the city is full of people, and there is an ongoing big wild party during these days, which makes it very popular for young people. There is a large range of activities, for ages young to old; however, if you are going to travel to Pamplona with children, other times of the year might be a bit more appropriate, and safer.
La Tomatina – Buñol
La Tomatina is another big party to take part in when visiting Spain. Celebrated in summer, the last Wednesday of August in particular, this event is great to go with friends. It consists of fight, in which people use tomatoes as a weapon. Before throwing the tomatoes, they have to be squashed to avoid injuries. When the fight is over, the event turns into a big celebration. You will meet young people from all over the world who are there to have fun.
If you want to join in, you may want to choose cheap, or old clothes and shoes to wear. It can get very messy. The weather will likely be very hot, so take that into consideration as well.
San Sebastián International Film Festival
This is one of the most important cinema festivals in the world in which you will have the opportunity to go to the cinema and meet famous actors from all over the world. For example, in 2016 Monica Bellucci, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly and many others participated in the festival. In 2017 the celebration happens between the 22nd and 30th of September.
San Sebastián is a lovely city to see when visiting Spain, and if you like the cinema you will enjoy this event a lot. Although it is popular internationally, the city doesn’t usually get overcrowded, and unlike San Fermín or La Tomatina, so you can enjoy a quiet stay.
Las Fallas – Valencia
During the year, people from each neighborhood from Valencia raise money to create a falla. A falla is a kind of construction that will be burnt during the festival. Its design is amazingly elaborate and they are really beautiful and spectacular. Each falla is different and unique. This festival is on from 15th to 19th of March.
Aside from the burning of the fallas, which I highly recommend to see, these days are a great time to enjoy partying in Valencia.
Holy week – Valladolid, Sevilla, and many other cities
The Holy Week, which is the week leading up to Easter, is a religious event, but is also spectacular in its own way. During these days, each city recreates the last days of Jesus Christ’s life. People take the old sculptures from the churches and move them through the city to show respect to them. It is an awesome experience to see these pieces of art, of which some are more than 200 years old, outside their normal environment.
This is not an event for partying, but it is highly interesting for cultural purposes and attracts people from many countries, so consequently the nightlife also becomes more interesting.
Moros y Cristianos – Alcoy and other locations on the Mediterranean coast
Moros y Cristianos means Moors and Christians and is the name for a festival in which many locations in the Valencia region replicate an old battle. If you like medieval history, this is the opportunity to visit and see an actual reenaction of a medieval battle. Of course, the cities have a lot of more relevant activities to these very interesting times in the history of Europe and Spain, but the battle is one of the highlights.
It will be celebrated from 21st to 24th April in 2017 and it is a festival that people of all ages will enjoy a lot.
If you can come and join any of these events while visiting Spain, do not hesitate to take advantage of every single opportunity you have to practice your Spanish conversation. When these events are running, the locals expect to meet lots of foreigners and are willing to help, so you won’t have any problems starting a conversation and getting to know new people.
About the author:
Miguel Bratos is a freelance content writer from Spain who also teaches Spanish to foreign learners by Skype. He likes reading, writing and has practiced a lot of hours of language exchange when he was studying English. He has a blog about the freelance writer career as writer and copywriter of spanishwriterpro.com.
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