All of the enjoyable of the feria: why August is the time to go to Málaga

If I had been a health care provider specialising in various therapies, and somebody got here to me feeling depressed, I wouldn’t ship them off with a herb-based elixir or a bunch of St John’s Wort. I wouldn’t cleanse their chakras or refer them to an acupuncturist. I’d ship them off to Málaga’s annual honest, which this 12 months runs from 16 to 23 August.

Summer in Andalusia is feria season – the most effective remedy that I do know of for a bout of the blues. Usually lasting three or 4 days, or a whole week within the regional capitals, ferias are events of pure alegria (pleasure) and inclusivity. Happiness is taken very critically in Spain, particularly in Andalusia, and nowhere is that this extra evident than at a summer season honest (Spaniards from the north prefer to say that each one Andalusians are idle hedonists, extra prone to be present in a bar than at work).

Although super quantities of alcohol are consumed, I’ve by no means witnessed any anti-social behaviour within the decade that I’ve been attending them: no fights or public vomiting, no sexual aggression, not even a drunken argument. Unlike Brits, Spaniards have a tendency to not actively search oblivion by alcohol; it’s a social lubricant, not the exercise round which ferias revolve. Families might be seen pushing prams nicely previous midnight. Teenagers principally carry cans of Monster power drink, not cider or lager.

One of my favorite village ferias takes place in mid-August in Pastelero, a mountain hamlet close to Málaga with a inhabitants of round 500. Everyone gathers alongside the one street to feast on paella, which is cooked open air in a pan the dimensions of a tractor wheel. Farmers journey round on horseback, sipping sherry within the saddle. At ferias of all sizes, however particularly on the bigger ones, you’ll wander amongst girls carrying intricately-designed flamenco attire with scarlet flowers pinned to their hair. At the largest festivals, a whole lot of marquees (casetas) are erected on a fairground (recinto), the place revellers drink, eat and dance. I significantly love the colors of the feria: the dusty yellow of the recinto ground; the multi-coloured paper lanterns strung between white casetas; the infantile blue of the summer season sky; explosions of crimson on flamenco attire; and the smooth black coats of Andalusian horses (pura raza Española), one of many world’s most interesting breeds. 

Most of those celebrations began out as livestock festivals within the Middle Ages. Ranchers would come to city to promote their cattle, and since in Spain each transaction can be a social event, distributors would wander amongst them providing refreshments. These boozy commerce festivals steadily expanded over the centuries to grow to be the massive occasions they’re immediately. Seville’s Feria de Abril, which launches the season two weeks after Easter, is the biggest: greater than 1,000 casetas unfold over a recinto a number of instances the dimensions of Pastelero (the draw back for guests is that solely a handful are open to the general public). The main ferias additionally characteristic a number of bullfights – Málaga will maintain seven this month, starring the largest names within the enterprise. Other seasonal highlights embrace Jerez de la Frontera’s beautiful Feria del Caballo (Horse Fair) in May and Ronda’s Feria de Pedro Romero, held in early September and named after the city’s well-known 18th-century bullfighter. Here, the partying occurs amid a few of southern Spain’s most dramatic surroundings. 

Málaga’s honest is exclusive (and possibly my favorite) for additionally internet hosting a large avenue occasion within the Old Town throughout the day, earlier than these with sufficient youth or stamina leap on a bus to the recinto for the evening session. The finest strategy to expertise the daytime celebrations – and the recommendation I might give to my imaginary depressed affected person – is to do as everybody else does.

Go to the closest Tabac and purchase a bottle of the feria’s signature wine, a candy white referred to as Cartojal, constituted of Málaga’s moscatel grape. As you swig or sip (you’ll obtain somewhat paper cup with the wine), meander up the Old Town’s important artery, Calle Marqués de Larios. Watch the road entertainers; admire the ladies of their lengthy, vibrant attire; linger on the palm-lined Plaza de la Constitución, the place reside music will make your physique vibrate. Continue up Calle Granada and cease in a few the crowded bars for a tapa and small beer (caña). Repeat till your senses can’t take any extra.

The warmth, the noise, the colors and wine will purge you of stress and stress, filling your complete being till there’s no room for distress. I might confidently anticipate my affected person to come back again from Málaga a special particular person, nonetheless fizzing with power and Cartojal – or to easily not return in any respect.