Alicante’s cuisine is typically Mediterranean, the fertility of its lands have provided an enormous richness and variety food.

 The Mediterranean Sea provides the freshest, best quality fish and shellfish and are a must for all visitors, such as the red shrimps from Alicante and the king prawns, crayfish, squid, red mullet, and many other types of seafood.

 Before sitting down for a meal, appetisers are the best thing to whet your appetite nothing better than the traditional tapas and montaditos, with a variety of toppings, typical of this area.

 Rice plays a leading role in a huge variety of meals, although many other ingredients are also used in the preparation of traditional recipes: Arrow a Banda, a rice dish with seafood, arrow caldoso, a brothy rice dish with seafood and the popular olleta rice dish with meat and vegetables.

 El caldero, a seafood stew, is a meal in itself and is the typical dish of TabarcaIsland. It consists of rice stewed with (monkfish, eel, mullet…) with the fish, normally accompanied by rich, fragrant garlic all i oli.

 Cured salted fish is used as the main ingredient for making many types of salazones featuring products which are served as appetisers: such as mojama (dried salted tuna), huevas (roe), ventresca de atún (tuna belly), the tonyina de sorra type of tuna, herring, etc, 

 Alicante is also renowned for its savoury pastries known as coca and tonyina, as well as its esmorzaret made with salted sardines, fried egg and ñora peppers.

 For dessert there are more products to enjoy, including aniseed rolls, la coca boba sponge cake, dates and dried fruits. Not forgetting the famous ice creams and the turrón de Jijona nougat or the delicious chocolate from the neighbouring town of Villajoyosa.

 The dinner table would not be complete in Alicante without wine. Dark full bodied reds, rosés and young whites made from grapes of the Monastrell, Vermeta or Garnacha varieties and el Fondillón, a world-famous aged wine from Alicante.

 The restaurants of Alicante have kept up the tradition of a rich and sensual cuisine, which has been recently up- dated to offer innovative versions of traditional products and dishes.

SAINT JOHN’S BONFIRE:  It isn’t about making a flame. The Bonfires of Saint John is a popular festival celebrated around Saint John’s day’s eve (23 June) throughout many cities and towns in Spain; the largest one takes place in Alicante, where it is considered the most important festival in the city.

 For this festival, people gather together and create large bonfires from any kind of wood, such as old furniture, and share hot chocolate while teens and children jump over the fires.

 Recently acknowledged as one of Europe’s best fiestas, the “Fogueres de Sant Joan” have all the ingredients necessary for a unique experience. You’ll be surrounded by warmth, colours and sensations.

You must simply come to Alicante when summer begins and get filled with sensations, musical sounds, thundering powder, beautiful women, eternal fireworks and nights when streets are lived. You will, for sure, integrate as another Alicantinian and walk restlessly through its streets.

Once declared as National Touristic Interest, and later as International Touristic Interest, today Alicante Bonfires are, besides, Official Celebrations of the city of Alicante.

 The Moors and Christians is a set of festival activities which are celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain, mainly in the southern Valencia Community. According to popular tradition the festivals commemorate the battles, combats and fights between Moors and Christians during the period known as Reconquista.

The people that take part in the festival are usually enlisted in filaes . The festivals last for several days. Christians wear fur, metallic helmets, and armour, fire loud harquebusiers, and ride horses. In contrast, Moors wear ancient Arab costumes, carry scimitars, and ride real camels or elephants. The festival develops among shots of gunpowder, medieval music, and fireworks, and ends with the Christians winning a simulated battle around a castle.

The main fiesta in the province has its own unique version in the capital city. It is held in five different district of the city. It starts in El Palamó in March, carries on Sant Blas in July. In summer it arrives to the country district of El Rebolledo in July and to the district of Altozano and José Antonio both in August. After these five fiestas, it will be the celebration of Alicante’s patron saint, Saint Nicholas of Bari, on December, 6 where the very best representation parades throughout the centre of Alicante in its consolidated Moors and Christians Entrance.

Celebrations of the coming of the Virgin in Elche

Celebrations of the coming of the Virgin in Elche.

Religious activities, events and activities.

In honour of the coming of the Virgin is celebrated every year from 26 to 30 December, during which various events and celebrations are held.

Offering flowers: on Thursday December 27, at the end of the Holy Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria in memory of the deceased Ilicitanos Absent, the offering of flowers takes place in the chapel of the Virgin.

Representation of the discovery of the Ark of the Virgin: on Friday December 28, at 7 am, on the beach of Santa Pola Tamarit representation of finding the Ark of the Virgin.

 Major Festivals Patron of Benidorm

 The festivities of Benidorm render honour to the Virgin of Suffrage and St. James the Apostle, both patrons of the resort. They are the most important celebrations in the city and take place from the second Saturday in November until the following Wednesday. The festival, which lasts for five intense days, ends with a spectacular firework display.

 During those days the streets of Benidorm are groomed with bouquets and floral walls true. There are all kinds of events and aimed at all ages, from live music on every corner, evening concerts in the Auditorium Park L ‘Aïguera , fishing tournaments, cultural events, theatre and outdoor performances, workshops and parties for the little ones, to parades and processions.

The staging of the Finding of the Virgin of Suffrage: takes place on Saturday from 17 hours in the Playa de Poniente. This event commemorates the arrival of the image of the Virgin to the municipality and gives meaning to the major festivals. Wood carving will covered by a blue mantle with gold accents and is accompanied from the beach to the square opposite the church of San Jaime.

 Major Festivals Patron of L’Alfas Del Pi

 Are the major festivals in honour of the Most Holy, Christ the Good Success and are held from 7 to 10 November. This is a very important celebration in the province of Alicante. In addition to religious services, there is also a large leisure and fun festive program with remarkable activities such as the great parade Humour, correfocs, mascletás and firework displays.

 Parade Humour: multicolour great ride that floods the streets of the town. Tends to start in the House of Culture.

Floral Offering Day and Correfocs: Floral Offering to the Holy Christ of the Good Success has output the Cultural arrival to the Church of San José.

Almoradí is a village situated in the south of the province of Alicante. It has early 20.000inhabitants.Is a modern constructions town of large streets and designed by Larramendi after the terrible earthquake of 1829 that devastated the majority of the part of the Vega Baja.

• Complementary to this weekly event  born the Lively Market, whereby programming every Saturday you can enjoy concerts, shows, commercial fairs, workshops, guided tours and all kinds of performances during the celebration of the market.
• The gastronomy in Almoradi offers a wide range of quality and special dishes cooked with the best products of the orchard and the sea. It is certainly the greatest treasure of the city; many tropical dishes are made with its flagship product: the artichoke. You can taste it in a thousand different ways.

1. The Holy Week in Almoradi has a high value traditional culture and an important heritage that is revived and showed every year, from the Palm Sunday to the Resurrection Sunday with numerous events and processions.

2. Almoradi Fair, in Honour of Saint Abdon and Saint Senen (July 30^th), is full of many traditional acts like “Bando de la huerta” or “desfile huertano”, the only one in the Alicante province.

3. After the Almoradi fiestas take place the Moors and Christians. Parades, embassies “desperta” and “kabilas and cuartelillos”  fill four days that “festeros” and visitors take to the streets of Almoradi during the night and day. 30^th November they celebrate the “medio año festero” because of the patron Saint Andrew.

• CULTURE ROUTE: Guided tour around the town, thought the most emblematic building of Almoradí (ST. Andrew’s Church, Cortes theatre and the C/ Spain Chapel), where you could learn the history of Almoradi at the same time discover come curious history about the city.
• GREN ROUTES: Guided tours along traditional paths where you can enjoy the climate, the smells of the orchard, learn the traditional forms of cultivation and their products, and the flora and fauna of the area.
• CHAPLES ROUTE: Guided tour through the chapels of the Easter Brotherhoods of Almoradi. In every chapel you could discover historical documents from each of the Brotherhood, and the various standards that been passed since its foundation, images, thrones…