Hogueras...Day Four

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The last day of the festival was the coolest thing I've ever experienced. In the afternoon at two we went to La Plaza de Los Luceros to hear the mascleta. This goes on every day of the festival but we didn't make it until the last day. The mascleta is a pyrotechnic show. I'm not really sure what that means or how they do it but it is pretty much just a bunch of noise. There is nothing to see but its all about listening to the booms. They are so loud you can feel it in your chest. Each day a different group puts it on and there is a winner based on their rythyms and such. It was pretty cool.

Later on was the much anticipated burning of the hogueras. We went to the Ayuntamiento which is the central government square where the first hoguera was to be burned. It was packed with people. At midnight from the top of mount benacantil, a firework was launched. This initiated the burning of the hogueras in the entire city. A bunch of fireworks set of in the square and then they lit it on fire. It burst up into flames and although we were far away we could feel the heat. After the whole thing caught on fire, the bomberos (firemen) started spraying to keep it under control. We had heard that it is common to wear your bathing suits in case you get wet. Our teachers taught us that a lot of people scream bad words at the firemen to get them to spray you. we were practicing all day..."bombero, cabron, hijo puta, maricon!" These aren't very nice so you probably shouldn't repeat them. Well we ended up getting drenched in the end. There was music playing and we danced and danced while the water just kept coming. It was so much fun.

By the time we made it out of the square most of the hogueras had already burned down. It was crazy. One minute they're here and twenty minutes they all disappeared. The city went right to work on cleaning everything up and by morning it was as if the festival never happened. It was an awesome fiesta and I am so glad I got to experience it. It is nice to have the streets quieter and way less crowded. I can finally get some sleep!

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Photos

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the smoke from the mascletas

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Before

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the fireworks set off from the mountain

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set it on fire!!!!

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it burns

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agua agua agua!!

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that was it...burnt to a crisp

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so drenched

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it was mad chaos around the city...we decided to jump into a water fountain

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the remains of another hoguera

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we freshened up and got some churros...yum