Festivals in Spain: 22 town fiestas worth planning a trip around

Every town in Spain has a fiesta. Most of them are lovely if you happen to be there, and not worth a special trip.

A small number are different. Spain's tourism ministry ranks fiestas, and only around 90 of them nationwide carry its top label, Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional. A few more are on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Those are the ones that can turn a town you'd give two hours into a place you plan a whole trip around.

This guide covers 22 of them, all in towns that are already on this site.

A quick word on how I put it together, because it matters. I haven't been to most of these yet. So nothing here is "I was there and it was amazing." Every date, rule and recognition comes from the town halls, the regional tourism boards, Spain's official tourism site and, in a few cases, the government gazette itself. Where two official sources disagreed, I left the point out rather than guess.

Dates are as published in October 2026. Many towns set the next year's dates over the winter, so confirm with the town before you book anything.

First, what the labels mean

You'll see these on every tourism poster in Spain, and they're useful once you know the ranking.

Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional. The national government's top category. It's awarded by the tourism ministry, and it's genuinely hard to get.
Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional. The national tier below that.
Fiesta de Interés Turístico plus a region (de Andalucía, de Aragón, de Extremadura and so on). Granted by the regional government.
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. A separate, global list. Only a few Spanish fiestas are on it.

Here's the thing. These labels are about the event, not the town. A tiny village can hold an International fiesta, and a big city's fiesta can have no label at all.

So the label tells you how big and established the event is. It doesn't tell you whether you'll enjoy it. That part depends on what you can handle: crowds, noise, fire, bulls, wine in your hair.

February

Carnaval del Toro, Ciudad Rodrigo

Most of Spain does Carnival with costumes. Ciudad Rodrigo does it with bulls.

For five days, Friday to Shrove Tuesday, the walled town runs bull runs (encierros) and capeas. For the capeas, bulls are released one at a time into a handmade wooden ring built inside the Plaza Mayor. The organizers call the Sunday morning encierro a caballo the star event: horsemen drive the bulls across open country into town. It starts at 11:00, and they say you can watch it safely from Avenida Agustín de Foxá onwards if you get there early.

Saturday is the gentler day. After the morning bull run there's a children's run, and the organizers recommend Saturday for families.

When: Friday to Shrove Tuesday, so it moves with Easter. In 2027 that should be February 5 to 9, but the town hadn't published dates at the time of writing. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional.

Moros y Cristianos, Bocairent

Moors and Christians festivals are a Valencian specialty, and Bocairent holds one of the first of the year, in honour of Sant Blai.

It opens on Friday night with the Nit de les Caixes: drums, lanterns and people wrapped in the traditional local blanket marching through the old town. Saturday is the big parade, the Entrada, with more than 2,000 people taking part. The Christian side marches by day to pasodobles. The Moorish side comes after dark, with slow marches. Monday brings the Embajadas, staged speeches between the two sides over control of the castle, with a lot of gunpowder.

When: starts on the first Friday of February. The regional tourism board lists February 5 to 8, 2027. The town's own program usually runs to the Tuesday, so check the end date if the finale matters to you. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional.

Las Bodas de Isabel de Segura, Teruel

This is the one I'd plan a trip around if I could pick only a single fiesta from this list.

Teruel has a 13th-century legend, the Lovers of Teruel. Diego goes away to make his fortune, comes back a day too late, and finds Isabel married to someone else. He asks her for a kiss, she refuses, he dies on the spot. At his funeral, she kisses him and dies too.

Every February the whole old town acts it out over a long weekend, with more than 150 organized "medieval" groups. The key moments:

Friday at midday: Isabel's wedding in the cathedral square.
Saturday evening: Diego's request for the kiss and his death in the Plaza del Torico, followed by a torchlit funeral procession.
Sunday at midday: the funeral and Isabel's death, then a joint funeral procession through town.

The Torneo del Rey tournament in the bullring is ticketed (15 euros in 2026, free for children under 6).

When: the weekend of the third Friday of February. For 2027 that puts it around February 18 to 21, but the official dates weren't out yet. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional since December 2025.

And if you can't make February, the mausoleum with the lovers' mummified remains is open all year.

March: Holy Week

Holy Week (Semana Santa) is everywhere in Spain. In 2027 it runs from Palm Sunday, March 21, to Easter Sunday, March 28. Three towns on this site do it in ways you won't see elsewhere.

Semana Santa, Zamora

Zamora's Holy Week is solemn, huge and very old. There are around ten days of processions with more than 40 pasos, the sculpted scenes carried through the streets.

Two moments stand out:

Holy Wednesday night: the Oath of Silence in the cathedral square.
Good Friday at 5:00 a.m.: the Congregación procession leaves the church of San Juan. Its brotherhood says it has more than 12,000 members. Through the night, pairs of cornet and drum (the Merlú) walk the city waking people up. At one stop the participants eat garlic soup out of clay bowls.

When: Viernes de Dolores, the Friday before Palm Sunday (March 19, 2027), to Easter Sunday. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional since 1986. In 2015 it also became the first Holy Week in Spain declared a protected intangible heritage asset.

Semana Santa and the Religious Music Week, Cuenca

Cuenca pairs its processions with a week of religious music concerts in the cathedral and old churches. The concerts are performed by orchestras and ensembles from Spain and abroad.

The procession people talk about is the Camino del Calvario in the early hours of Good Friday (5:30 a.m. in 2026, from the church of El Salvador). It's preceded by las Turbas, a deliberate din of drums and trumpets ahead of the image of Jesus. Spain's tourism board says more than 30,000 people take part across the week.

One local warning worth passing on. Cuenca's brotherhoods say a rumour draws visitors out on Holy Thursday night for a "Turba" that isn't really part of the tradition. The real one is before dawn on Friday.

When: Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday (March 21 to 28, 2027). Concert tickets and passes go on sale ahead of time through the Teatro Auditorio box office, and some concerts are free. Status: both the Holy Week and the Music Week are Fiestas de Interés Turístico Internacional.

Los Empalaos, Valverde de la Vera

This is the smallest and strangest event on the list, and possibly the most affecting.

At midnight on Holy Thursday, anonymous men walk the Stations of the Cross through Valverde de la Vera. They're fulfilling private vows, barefoot and in complete silence. Each one has a plough beam bound across his shoulders and outstretched arms with esparto rope, and his face is covered by a white veil held by a crown of thorns. A companion hidden under a blanket lights his way with a lantern.

The tradition goes back to a 16th-century brotherhood. The village has a Museo del Empalao if you want to understand it before you see it.

When: Holy Thursday night (March 25, 2027). The evening builds up with a sung Passion at 10:30 p.m. and the Via Crucis at midnight (2024 program). Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico de Extremadura. You'll see "National" on some websites. The official 1980 listing doesn't support that, so I haven't repeated it.

April and May

Moros y Cristianos, Alcoy

If Bocairent is the warm-up, Alcoy is the main event. It's the most famous Moors and Christians festival in Spain. It commemorates a battle of 1276, when, by legend, Saint George appeared and helped the Christians hold the town.

It's three days:

The Entradas: the Christian groups parade in the morning and the Moorish groups in the afternoon, in very elaborate costumes.
Saint George's day: religious services and a procession.
The Alardo: a gunpowder battle for the wooden castle. The Christians win every year, and a small boy dressed as Saint George appears on the battlements to close it.

The town of about 60,000 swells to an estimated 200,000 people, and hotels fill up for the Entrada day first.

When, and this year it's unusual: the traditional dates are April 22 to 24. For 2027, the town council has approved a weekend instead. The Entrada is Saturday, April 24, Saint George's day is Sunday, April 25, and the battle is Monday, April 26. Older articles online still show April 22 to 24, 2027. Those are out of date. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional.

Feria del Caballo, Jerez de la Frontera

Jerez's horse fair is a week of riders and horse-drawn carriages parading through the fairground by day, and music, fino sherry and sevillanas in the marquees (casetas) at night. There are also show jumping and dressage competitions.

Unlike Seville's April fair, the casetas here are open to the public. You don't need an invitation from a member to get in.

When: normally a Saturday-to-Saturday week in May. In 2027 it moves earlier, to April 24 to May 1, to avoid clashing with other big events. That's also its 60th edition, and the council is planning a special anniversary program. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional.

Los Caballos del Vino, Caravaca de la Cruz

This one is on UNESCO's list, and it's easy to see why.

On May 2 in Caravaca de la Cruz, horses wearing richly embroidered cloaks race up the final steep stretch to the castle. Each horse has four men running alongside, holding on, and the race is against the clock. Prizes go to the fastest and to the best cloaks, which are embroidered in silk and gold thread.

In 2026 the race was at about 2:00 p.m., after the blessing of the wine and flowers, with parades of the horses from 9:30 a.m. On May 1 there's a bareback contest and an exhibition of the cloaks. The wider fiestas run from May 1 to 5 and include Moors and Christians too.

When: May 1 to 5 every year. The race is on May 2. Status: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (2020). The fiestas as a whole are a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional.

Late May and June

Corpus Christi, Toledo

Corpus Christi falls on a Thursday that moves with Easter. In 2027 it's May 27.

Toledo decorates its whole procession route for it. Canvas awnings go up over the streets, the façades are hung with old tapestries, and the cobbles are strewn with thyme and rosemary. The centrepiece is a gold and silver monstrance from 1515 that weighs about 160 kg, carried through the old town from the cathedral.

Around the same days, private palaces and houses open their patios to the public. If you want a chair on the route, they're sold ahead of time from a booth in Plaza de Zocodover.

When: Corpus Thursday, with events across the week around it. The procession starts late morning. Toledo's own tourism site says 11:00 and the national site says noon, so check that year's program. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional since 1980.

La Patum, Berga

The same week, in the Catalan foothills, Berga holds something completely different.

La Patum grew out of the street performances that once went with medieval Corpus processions. Today it's a sequence of dances by giants, dwarves, mule-dragons, an eagle and Turks on hobby-horses, all in one packed square. The climax is the Plens: dancers covered in firecrackers who fill the square with fire and smoke.

You choose your experience:

The midday performances on Thursday and Sunday are calmer and family-friendly.
The full night Patum from 9:30 p.m. is loud, smoky and very participatory.

More than 100,000 people come over the five days, about six times the town's population, so book a room early.

When: Wednesday to Sunday of Corpus week. Corpus Thursday 2027 is May 27, so expect May 26 to 30, but confirm with the organizers. Status: UNESCO intangible heritage since 2005. It was the first popular festival in Catalonia to get that.

Batalla del Vino, Haro

On the morning of June 29, thousands of people dressed in white climb to the cliffs of Bilibio, about 6 km from Haro in La Rioja. They hear mass at a hermitage, and then soak each other with wine.

Buckets, water pistols, crop sprayers, wineskins. Anything but glass. Estimates run from 30,000 to more than 40,000 litres a year. Then everyone heads back into town to the Plaza de la Paz.

It starts early, so plan to be up by 7:00, and bring spare clothes. You'll want to protect your car seats too.

When: June 29 every year, whatever day of the week it falls on. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional (2011). Some sites call it International. As far as I can find, Haro applied but hasn't been granted it.

July

San Fermín, Pamplona

The one everybody's heard of. Pamplona's fiesta opens with a rocket from the town hall balcony at noon on July 6. It closes at midnight on July 14 with crowds holding candles and singing Pobre de mí.

The bull run is every morning from July 7 to 14 at 8:00 sharp, and it lasts about three minutes. You can watch from the barriers along the route, rent a balcony, or watch the finish from inside the bullring.

The rest of the program matters as much as the run: giants and big-heads parades, morning wake-up rounds by the town band, free concerts and fireworks.

When: July 6 to 14, every year. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional since 1980.

Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico, Almagro

Not a fiesta in the traditional sense, but the reason a lot of people visit Almagro at all.

For most of July, the town stages classical Spanish theatre. In 2026 that meant 50 shows from 50 companies, including in the Corral de Comedias, a 17th-century open-air playhouse that's still used. The festival's own survey found that most people who come stay the night, and the average stay is 4.6 days. That tells you how it works: you pick a few plays and make a short trip of it.

When: most of July. The 2026 edition ran July 2 to 26. The program is announced in spring, and tickets are sold on festivaldealmagro.com. Status: no tourism label. It's backed by the Ministry of Culture's performing arts institute, and Spain's tourism board says it draws more than 60,000 spectators.

La Vaquilla del Ángel, Teruel

Teruel's second big fiesta, in July. Around 20 local peñas (clubs) run music in the streets all weekend. It opens when a red scarf is tied around the Torico, the little bull statue in the main square. Bulls on ropes are led through the old town.

When: the Fiestas del Ángel run for about ten days in early July, and the core Vaquilla weekend is Saturday to Monday. By the usual rule, 2027 should be July 10 to 12. The council hadn't confirmed it at the time of writing.

A note on its status: a regional news report in September 2026 said it had just been declared of National interest. I couldn't find the official declaration, so I'm not counting it yet.

August

Beach horse races, Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Since 1845, thoroughbreds have raced along the beach at Sanlúcar where the Guadalquivir meets the sea. The races run in the late afternoon at low tide, finishing around sunset. Watching from the beach is free.

Kids set up their own little betting booths in the sand. The official betting is at the finish line.

When: two three-day cycles in August. The days move every year with the tide tables, so check carrerassanlucar.es before you book. The second cycle has the big prizes. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional.

Festival Frigiliana 3 Culturas

For four nights at the end of August, Frigiliana celebrates its Christian, Muslim and Jewish past. There are concerts in the squares (flamenco, Sephardic, Andalusí, world music), a crafts market, and a tapas route inspired by the three cuisines.

Most of it is free. Cars are kept out of the old town, with shuttle buses from the car parks running until 3:00 a.m. in 2026. Rooms in the village go fast, and nearby Nerja is the usual fallback.

When: Thursday to Sunday in late August (August 27 to 30 in 2026). The program usually appears in July.

September

September is the busiest month on this list. If you can travel then, you can string several of these together.

El Cascamorras, Baza and Guadix

A fiesta shared between two rival towns, with a story more than five centuries old.

Long ago, a statue of the Virgin was found in Baza, and Guadix claimed it. Every year Guadix sends its envoy, the Cascamorras, a figure in a harlequin costume, to try to bring her back.

September 6, in Baza: the people of Baza, covered in black paint, chase him through the streets so he arrives filthy and fails.
September 9, in Guadix: he comes home empty-handed and gets painted again as punishment, with water thrown from balconies and the fire brigade hosing the crowd.

You will get paint on you. The local advice is a white T-shirt you don't love, and a room where you can clean up afterwards. If you'd rather watch, Plaza de la Constitución in Guadix is the suggested spot.

When: September 6 (Baza) and September 9 (Guadix), every year. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Internacional since 2013.

Moros y Cristianos, Villena

Villena's Moors and Christians festival is huge. It has 14 comparsas and more than 12,000 participants. Two big parades are the highlights: the Gran Entrada and the Gran Cabalgata, on September 5 and 6 in 2025. There are also mock battles and speeches at the 12th-century castle.

When: September 4 to 9 every year. Aim for the 5th and 6th for the parades. Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional since 2015. The town has applied for International.

Feria de Pedro Romero and the Corrida Goyesca, Ronda

A fair week in Ronda honouring the 18th-century local bullfighter Pedro Romero. Its centrepiece is the Corrida Goyesca, a bullfight in which the bullfighters wear the costumes Goya painted. The week also has parades, concerts and a horse-drawn carriage show.

I'll be plain about it: the main event is a bullfight. If that's not for you, the rest of the fair is a lively week to be in town, but rooms in Ronda are in very high demand that week.

If it is for you, know that the roughly 5,000 seats sold out in under 24 hours when they went on sale in April 2026. There was no Goyesca in 2024 or 2025 while the bullring was repaired.

When: late August into early September. The Goyesca is usually on the first Saturday of September. Dates are published around July.

Alarde, Hondarribia

On September 8, Hondarribia marches through its walled old town in red and white, firing blank salvos. It's fulfilling a vow made to the Virgin of Guadalupe after the town held out against a French siege in the 17th century.

You should know what you'll see. The traditional Alarde has 20 companies of men, each with one woman in the role of cantinera. For about 30 years, a mixed company called Jaizkibel has campaigned for women to march as soldiers. Since 2024 both have paraded on the same morning, separately, at times set by the mayor. The Basque ombudsman and the Basque women's institute back Jaizkibel, and the issue is still very much alive locally.

When: September 8, every year. In 2026 the first parade set off at 7:55 a.m.

October

Fiesta de la Rosa del Azafrán, Consuegra

A gentle one to finish on. The saffron flowers bloom in late October on the plains around Consuegra, the town with the row of white windmills on the ridge. The fiesta, held since 1963, celebrates the harvest.

The highlights:

Saturday afternoon: one of the 16th-century windmills grinds wheat and hands out bags of flour.
Sunday morning: in the main square, the national final of the monda, a race to strip the red saffron threads from the flowers, followed by a folk dance festival.

When: the last full weekend of October (October 23 to 25 in 2026). Status: Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional.

Two that don't happen every year

La Morisma, Aínsa. A night-time play in Aínsa's arcaded medieval square, performed by more than 300 locals. It re-enacts a legendary battle against the Moors. It's held every two years, in even years, at the end of August, and seats are sold on lamorisma.com about two weeks before. The next one should be in 2028.

Sexenni, Morella. Every six years, Morella spends a year making paper decorations for every street. It then holds nine days of dances and processions for the Virgin of Vallivana, keeping a vow made after a plague in the 1670s. The last was in August 2024. The next is August 2030. Put it in your calendar now. The 2018 edition drew about 150,000 visitors to a town of around 2,500 people.

How to plan around a fiesta

A few things are true of nearly all of these.

Book early, and book nearby. Most of these towns are small. Rooms during a fiesta go months ahead, and prices rise. Often the smarter move is to stay in the next town and drive or bus in. Every town page on this site has a "where to stay" map so you can see what's around.

Know the one moment you're there for. Every fiesta on this list has a peak: a dawn procession, a Saturday parade, a 2:00 p.m. race. Build your day around it and treat the rest as a bonus.

Expect closed streets. Old towns close to traffic during fiestas. Plan to park outside and walk in.

Check the year's program. Dates move with Easter, with the tides, and sometimes by council vote, as Alcoy and Jerez both show in 2027. Every town publishes its program, usually a few weeks to a few months ahead.

Dress for it. White for Pamplona and Haro. Clothes you can throw away for the Cascamorras. Something warm for a dawn procession in Zamora in March.

Want to see what else a town has once the fiesta is over? Every town on this list has its own page on the site, with its history, monuments, museums and places to eat. That's the next place I'd look.