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Spain
Now living in l'Olleria, south of Valencia

Sunday 5 September 2010

Entra de Moros i Cristians




This year, we had to get to the main Saturday parade early, as Lorena was in the first fila. We drove into town, but couldn't find anywhere to park! All of the little streets were cut off, as the filas would be having parties later, so there were tables laid out in the streets. The main carparks were full, so we had to park at the back of town. I didn't know there were so many people in the town!

Apparently, you can hire chairs for the occasion from the town hall (at €5 each), but that puts you in a single spot for the entire event.

Our usual standing position was already busy, but Ed and I walked up the main street (with everyone watching us) and found a perfect spot with a wonderful view. It turned out, that this was some kind of throughfare, and we kept getting run over with pushchairs; however, as we are both tall, it wasn't a major problem.

A few minutes later, and the first fila came around the corner. (Iberes) I looked carefully, then spotted Lorena in the second row. She saw me too and smiled. We watched quite a few filas from there, then went to a bar for a drink, before the entry of the Moors.

Unknown to us, during this time, a large float, shaped like a tree, made it's way down the street, but as it got to the narrowest part, it didn't fit through! The whole parade was held up for 15 minutes, while some-one called a tree surgeon and felled a few branches!

As usual, the moors wore their lavish costumes. These, combined with the haunting, pulsing music certainly explain how they managed to conquer Spain all those years ago.

Apparently, the costumes cost around £150 to hire for the 2 hours that they are worn. They are very beautiful though, and the cost includes all of the accessories, such as the headresses, swords and cloaks.

Stunning.

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