đThe Bando de la Huerta Spring Festival
Murcia bursts into spring with a joyous celebration of its enduring agricultural heritage, stunning folkloric costumes, bountiful local produce, and delectable cuisine.
If you live in Europe, chances are youâve partaken of the Huerta of Murcia. Maybe the oranges, tomatoes, olives, almonds, bell peppers, lemons, or melons that fill your shopping basket have come from the dry arid lands of southeast Spain where fruit and vegetable exports make up more than 50% of the regional market.
Murciaâs low-lying agricultural fields, orchards, and gardens, known as the âHuerta de Murciaâ, and âEuropeâs Orchardâ have a long tradition that dates all the way back to Moorish times.
A Spot of History
Founded in 825 CE by the Emir of Cordoba, the area was given the name Mursiya, and along with neighbouring Valencia, was transformed into an oasis of fertility. The invading Muslims took one look at the river Segura that runs through the lands and decided to create an ingenious and complex network of irrigation canals that has lasted to modern times and become of backbone of the regionâs economy.
Originally, most of the farming was based around cereals, fodder, and vineyards with fruit and vegetables grown closer to the city centre. But as transportation and preservation methods became more efficient, by the 20th century fruit and veg made up the majority of agricultural produce.
In the 1950s orange groves began to replace much of the land used for vegetables because they produced a greater yield and required less labour. Today, the production of fruit and vegetables in the Huerta de Murcia generates 1,440 million euros annually and provides a significant number of jobs in the region, including farming, harvesting, and related industries such as packaging and distribution.
An Agricultural Tradition
Just immersing yourself in any of the thousands of vibrant fresh produce markets around Spain is an inspiring experience. The colourful displays of innumerable fruit and vegetables piled up high in an artful defiance of physics is a feast for the senses.
The countryâs long agricultural history and its love of unfussy tasty dishes has given it a well-earned reputation as a food loverâs paradise. So, what better place to celebrate the agricultural traditions that have fed a nation and beyond, than in Murcia as part of their annual Spring Festival?
The city of Murcia takes to the streets the first week after Easter dressed in traditional clothing that represents all aspects of (predominantly) 19th century society, from peasant workers to aristocrats. The regional costume is an integral part of the festival, and a lot of care is taken to get it right.
Menâs Costumes
Men wear the traditional âzaraguellesâ (pants), vests, and âmonterasâ (orchard hat). ZaragĂźeles are white knee-length baggy pants made of canvas or linen, worn by workers in Mediterranean cultures as far back as the 7th century BC. The more elegant gala pants are made of dark cloth or velvet, the same colour as the jacket and also come up to the knees and are decorated with silver buttons.
The white shirt has wide sleeves which made it easier to wield tools freely in the fields, with a sleeveless open vest worn over the shirt. The waist is tied with a generous red sash giving the outfit a splash of colour.
The menâs knee-length white stockings are worn with sandals called espadrilles made from woven esparto grass or hemp and tied to the ankles in Roman sandal fashion.
Womenâs Costumes
The women are stunning in their refajos (skirts), aprons, and richly embroidered shawls and ornaments. During the 16th and 18th centuries, mulberry trees were grown in Murcia for the booming silk industry of the time, and silk still plays an important part in the elaborate needlework decorations.
The colourful full skirts are embroidered in white floral designs and open out umbrella-like when the women spin and dance. Blouses, bodices, petticoats, aprons, and stockings complete the costumes, with the elaborately embroidered shawls an eye-catching essential for the overall decorative effect.
The hair is usually swept up into a braided bun secured with a satin or velvet ribbon, combs, silver hairpins, and flowers. Other accessories such as pearl necklaces, chokers, earrings, and bracelets are also important and reflect the different social levels during the various periods in history.
The Festival
The Bando de la Huerta Festival begins on the first Tuesday after Easter week with a Mass followed by a floral offering to the patron saint, the Virgin of Fuensanta, in front of the cathedral.
 In the afternoon, the much-anticipated Bando de la Huerta Parade is an opportunity for the Murcians to proudly represent their agricultural heritage in the form of costumes, cattle and other farm animals, old and new farming equipment, and of course, the abundant produce the region is famous for.
A stream of locals of all ages make their way through the streets, on foot, on ancient bicycles (the most common form of transport in 20th century villages), in carriages pulled by horses or oxen, or high up on floats pulled by tractors.
Water carriers with their donkeys, milkmaids with their goats, bakers with their bread, brass band musicians, stilt-walkers, banderos (men and women on horseback brandishing flags), dancers, and of course, the obligatory cabezudos (bigheads) and gigantes (giants) representing important historical figures, are all on display in the parade.
The floats are laden with produce of all kinds from which the participants distribute samples of the local gastronomy from blood sausages, beans, and pastries, to fruit and vegetables, as well as alcohol such as beer or wine.
In squares and gardens throughout the city, you can find stalls set up with traditional Murcian cuisine along with regular folkloric dance performances. Everywhere there is the beating of drums, or the click of castanets, the spring scents of hydrangeas, lilies, roses, and geraniums mixed with the aromas of delicious food. Then of course, there is the unavoidable deafening bombardment of the traditional tronaeras â aerial fireworks of noise and smoke.
The week finishes with the Burial of the Sardine - later than other Burials that happen at the end of Carnival when a giant papier-mâchÊ sardine is paraded through the streets before being thrown onto a bonfire as a symbolic ritual that marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.
Shaky Origins
Interestingly, despite now boasting the esteemed title of âFestival of International Touristic Interestâ and attracting visitors from all over the country and beyond, the Banda de la Huerta Festival has had a rocky and uncertain history.
It began as part of the carnival celebrations from 1851 until 1865. It was later shortly resurrected for a few years until a disastrous flood destroyed hundreds of livestock, houses and human lives, ending it once again in 1876.
The festival was forgotten for 20 years, but in 1900 until the Civil War of 1936-39 it began to gain a level of popularity that extended beyond the town, so was picked up again after the war, lasting till 1944, when it was promptly abandoned once more till 1967. Since then, it has continued to grow in popularity as a symbol of Spainâs long and significant agricultural history and rich cultural traditions.
Spring is the ideal time to head to the Huerta of Murcia as it offers many attractive routes to explore along paths, trails, and lanes that wind around the irrigation canals. There are chapels and churches, flour and gunpowder mills, waterwheels, birdlife, and of course, traditional bars and restaurants with the best tapas and wines of Murcia. You can hire bikes, electric motorbikes, jump on a tram or bus, or simply wander around on foot. Check out this link for a list of the tourist routes through the Huerta. :)
Great story! A lot of the fruit and vegetables I buy in France comes from Spain but I wasnât aware that they could be coming from Murcia! Looks like a wonderful festival, so colorful and fun đ
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