The Beauty of Tradition

The coastal city of Dénia lies along Spain’s Costa Blanca, which is a popular place with tourists. I recently wrote about my experience at the festival of Las Fallas, which consists of multi-day celebrations that include the construction of several large-scale art installations called fallas, made in the likeness of notorious real and fictional characters. For more details check out my previous article: The Rites of Spring

The beauty and cultural pageantry of this corner of Spain was on full display during the festival.

Dénia's historical and cultural development includes Iberian, Greek, Roman, Islamic, Christian, and Napoleonic influences. There’s also evidence of prehistoric habitation, so in spite of being a small city, Dénia's culture is deeply rooted in the past.

Wandering around downtown, Rochelle and I came across a parade near an outdoor market. Men and women sported traditional outfits to the sound of music.

An open-air market

The following day, we came across a different procession that included the offering of flowers to the Virgin Mary.

Women arrived wearing traditional gowns and with bouquet of red and white flowers in hand, they would would approach the Virgin statue and pass the flowers to one of the organizers who then climbed the effigy to place them in the correct place.

There was a bit of a mishap when a lady showed up with different coloured flowers, including purple, instead of the customary red or white that the other women were carrying.

One of the organizers put the flowers in the next available spot. However, the flowers stood out because of their different shades of colours. As more flowers were placed, the more one of the gentlemen grew flustered seeing the unusual bouquet stand out. Another fellow tried to hide the flowers behind the others. A heated discussion ensued because his colleague wanted them out of the way in another spot, and for a moment I thought the whole event would be derailed, but in the end they worked out their differences.

I was sweating. Even I was getting flustered by the floral drama, but I also got a few chuckles.

More ladies streamed in regal dresses. Some of them, overcome with emotion, began to cry as they approached the Virgin, whose dress was slowly coming together (purple flowers notwithstanding). It was a display of beauty and faith that speaks to the cultural character of a place with unique traditions.

One thing that I found curious was the number of families hanging out and about. It was clear that it was a family event in addition to the adult extracurriculars that unfolded over the week.

The boys did not parade but were busy with other matters like explosives

One of the kids lit up the fuse and just dropped the firecracker in the middle of the group.

Take cover!

Back at the parade, the Virgin's dress was complete with the unusual flowers safely tucked out of the way.

The music rose in the air, and the festival continued in the Costa Blanca.

Resources

The History of Denia
https://aceholidaysspain.com/denia/

Dénia’s History
https://deniavacation.es/denia-history/

Images by @litguru