Ferias en fiestas 

Throughout the year there are many ferias (annual fairs) and fiestas, worth visiting while staying in Deseo. 

Festivities in Colmenar

  • The Sunday following the 2nd of February: Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaría Y San Blas, the patron saints of Colmenar. The first Sunday after San Blas’ name day, the statues of La Virgin and San Blas will be carried through the streets of the village in procession.
  • Semana Santa or Holy Week, the week before Easter, the streets of the village are decorated and there are many processions.
  • May the 3rd: ‘El Dia de la Pipa’ or day of the sunflower seed. On this day the “Colmenareños” and their relatives come to Solano near the Old Chapel, very near to Deseo to enjoy a free meal of, among other things: the famous ‘hornazo’ (Easter pie), bread in various forms with boiled eggs.
  • The weekend after ‘El Dia de la Pipa’, the ‘Romería’ takes place. An image of Maria goes round in the village on a decorated carriage drawn by two oxen and escorted by men on horses.
  • In June there is the magical night of San Juan, in which traditionally puppets will be burned in the street.
  • In the beginning of August is the Colmenar Feria. From Thursday to Sunday all kinds of cultural and sporting activities take place for both adults and children. There will be the choosing of Miss and Mister Feria, a funfair, free entertainment every night and you can dance all night in the central square of the village, roads are closed and the whole town becomes a restaurant and is taken over by festivities and fun with a large stage in the middle of the town.  Everyone dresses up and the children look adorable in their traditional Spanish costumes.
  • December: Fiesta del Mosto y la Chacina (wine and Spanish sausages). A food market organized by the local enterpriser’s association and the council, where you can taste and buy local produce.

For the exact dates and more information also for festivities in neighbouring villages, we refer to the link: www.absoluteaxarquia.com/fiestas1.html

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

The Holy Week before Easter is well worth a visit. Whether in a village, like Colmenar, or in a city, you will be impressed by the atmosphere and the Andalusian traditions, which have remained unaltered for generations. In Andalusian cities like Malaga and Seville the celebrations are very glamorous, compared to the more somber and solemn events in northern Spain. The gold or silver platforms or “pasos”, carry lifelike wood sculptures of individual scenes of the events that happened from the time of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, through to his crucifiction and resurrection, or images of the Virgin Mary showing her sorrow at the death of her son. These "pasos" (which usually weigh over a metric tonne) are physically carried on the neck of costaleros (literally "sack men", named for the distinctive and functional headdress). The "pasos" are set up and maintained by hermandades and cofradías, religious brotherhoods, which precede the "pasos" (up to 3). They are dressed in penitential robes and  hoods with conical tips (called ‘capirote’), dating from the Spanish Inquisition, where they were used to conceal the face of the wearer and mask their identity. These members of the cofradias are called ‘Nazarenos’. A brass band may accompany the procession, playing funeral hymns or "marchas" specially written for the occasion. Some processions are silent with no musical accompaniment. As each procession leaves its home church, called a ‘salida’, as well as on its return, the ‘entrada’  and all along the route of the march, there are special improvised songs offered by individuals, in the crowd or on balconies. These songs are generically called 'saetas' (arrows).

With 55 cofradias bearing approximately 105 pasos in procession Seville holds some of the most elaborate processions of Holy Week. A total of 58 processions (as of 2007) occur during the week, from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday morning. On Maundy Thursday there are two sets of processions. One group occurs during the afternoon and evening. The second set begins near midnight and continues until the early afternoon on Good Friday. The most famous processions occur this night, including the favorite, Virgen La Macarena,Triana and Jesus del Gran Poder.

In Málaga the Virgen de las Penas (Virgen of Grief/Sorrow) is worth mentioning as she is not dressed in a velvet cloak but in a dress made of more than 20,000 flowers.