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Festivals in Spain: 2010

Spain erupts with fiestas and celebrations throughout the year. Below is a list of the most important events in Spain for 2008. Semana Santa (Holy Week) fills the week before Easter with processions and festivities all over Iberia, but especially in Sevilla. To run with the bulls, be in Pamplona — with medical insurance — July 6–14.

For more information on these and other festivals, see www.spain.info and www.whatsonwhen.com.

NOTE: Before planning a trip around a festival, make sure that you verify the festival dates at the festival or local TI's website.

Jan 1 New Year's Day Spain
Jan 6 Epiphany ("Día de los Reyes," religious festival) Spain
Early Feb La Candelaria (religious festival) Madrid
Feb 26-
March 13
Festival de Jerez (flamenco and other dancing; www.festivaldejerez.es) Jerez
Feb 28 Day of Andalucía (some closures) Andalucía
March 28-April 4 Holy Week/Semana Santa (week before Easter) Spain
April 4-5 Easter Sunday & Easter Monday Spain
April 20-25 April Fair ("Feria de Abril," party tents in huge fairgrounds, traditional costumes, bullfights) Sevilla
May 1 Labor Day (closures) Spain
May 2 Day of the Autonomous Community (closures, music, dancing in Plaza Mayor) Madrid
May 2-9 Feria del Caballo (horse pageantry) Jerez
Throughout May San Isidro (religious festival on May 15; also bullfights and zarzuelas all month long) Madrid
June La Patum (Moorish battles) Barcelona
June 3 Corpus Christi (religious festival) Spain
June 24 St. John the Baptist Day ("San Juan"; bonfires, fireworks) Barcelona
Late June-early July International Festival of Music and Dance (www.granadafestival.org) Granada
July 6-14 Running of the Bulls (Fiesta de San Fermín) Pamplona
Aug Gràcia Festival (neighborhood festival; www.festamajordegracia.cat) Barcelona
Mid-Aug Verbena de la Paloma (folk festival) Madrid
Aug 15 Assumption of Mary (religious festival) Spain
September Autumn Festival (flamenco, bullfights) Jerez
Late Sept La Mercé (parade with huge papier-mache figures) Barcelona
Oct 12 Spanish National Day ("Día de la Hispanidad" commemorating Columbus' arrival in the New World, parades, some closures) Spain
Late Oct-Nov International Jazz Festival Madrid
Nov 1 All Saints' Day (religious festival, closures) Spain
Nov 9 Virgen de la Almudena (religious festival) Madrid
Dec 6 Constitution Day (closures) Spain
Dec 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception (religious festival) Spain
Dec 13 Feast of Santa Lucía (religious festival) Spain
Dec 25 Christmas Spain
Dec 31 New Year's Eve Spain