Seville - Feria de Abril

The Feria de Abril, "the festival of light, colour, joy, music and fun", is one of the main festivals of Spain, and has been held in Seville, the capital of Andalusia, since 1846. The festival takes place a week after the Semana Santa celebrations, very evocative but certainly less "high-spirited", in a specially equipped area (the Recinto de Feria), in the Los Remedios district. During Holy Week the city is crossed day and night by the processions of the various brotherhoods of penitents and hooded figures, who parade along the streets carrying the "pasos", huge canopies with religious subjects, in an atmosphere of great sacredness. It's said ironically that the people of Seville devote themselves to penance so as to earn their forgiveness in advance, ahead of the secular festival that will characterise the Feria de Abril.

Born as a trade fair for animals and agricultural products, the Feria gradually lost its commercial aspect to remain purely an occasion for celebration, and has turned into the festival of flamenco. The festival is a real dive into the past and Andalusian tradition: over the huge area of the Recinto, no fewer than 1040 casetas are set up, that is, marquee-restaurant-dance-hall tents, inside which people eat, drink, dance and socialise. Unfortunately most of the casetas are private and you only get in by invitation of the association; however, from 2006 a further 200 public casetas will be set up.

Within the area you move only on foot or on horseback, there's an atmosphere of great cheerfulness, and the women all wear the traditional traje flamenco; inside the casetas people eat typical Andalusian dishes such as gazpacho, chorizo, pescaíto frito and bacalao, and drink litres of rebujito and cerveza (unlike the Feria de Verano in Malaga, where tinto de verano and sangria are preferred). For almost a week the city stops, the historic centre empties and about a million Sevillians and tourists pour into the fair area; for this reason it's necessary to book both flight and hotel well in advance (we booked in November and found an excellent place: the Hotel Maestranza, a few steps from both the centre and the shopping area of Calle Sierpes) and to bear in mind that prices double (110 euros a night for a double compared with 55 in the weeks before and after).

Unfortunately this year there was also an increase in violence and brawls (always in the small hours, though) because of the war between "canis" and "pijos", that is, groups of young people from the lower and upper social classes. We personally witnessed a battle with bottles being thrown.... During the day, along the streets of the Recinto, parades of horses decked out with hundreds of multicoloured ribbons, painted carts and singers intoning the old ballads with guitar wind their way. The women show off the striking Andalusian dresses, a riot of frills, curves, polka dots and flowers. As evening falls, you then move from caseta to caseta, stopping to eat, drink, meet people and chat; you watch the shows or take part until the early hours of the morning.

Moreover, during the week of the feria, bullfights are held with the best and most famous bullfighters, such as Manuel Jesús "El Cid" or El Fandi, in the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, second in importance only to Madrid's Plaza de la Venta.

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