Andrea MacLean wrote in the June 16th edition of The News, "Andalucians love a good party and there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate with over 3,000 festivals every year...one of the most remarkable is Noche de San Juan." La Noche de San Juan on June 23rd is another example of a pagan celebration being co-opted by the Christians. In this case it is the summer solstice, the shortest night of the year.
It is St.Jean de Baptiste Day in Quebec, Canada and the Saint Jonas Festival in Lithuania but here in Spain it is the biggest party of the year! Thousands of families, mainly Spanish but also some foreigners (yours truly included) celebrated Noche de San Juan with barbecues and bonfires on the beaches of the Costa del Sol.
Traditionally, Spanish people used this fiesta to perform rituals to affect weather, purify their bodies, attract love and scare away evil spirits. There are even rituals thought to prevent woollen winter clothes from being devoured by moths over the summer.
Júas or effigies are burned along the coasts or on riverbanks to mark the arrival of summer and superstitious people take a dip at midnight or leap over the fires to garner good luck. At 1 a.m. the sky over the Benalmadena harbour exploded with light and colour. The fireworks ended the festivities with a flourish but some hardy revellers stayed the entire night.
In Arroyo de la Miel, Noche de San Juan is the beginning of six days of celebration. The Feria de San Juan includes a procession of the town´s patron saint through the streets and ending at the fairgrounds next to Paloma Park. Located here were scores of rides, side shows, attractions and stalls.
Temporary bars called casetas and stages were set up on the streets of the town so that the fiesta atmosphere was not isolated in one area and daytime events brought music, dancing and paella to the streets of Arroyo.
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