Eurasia Mega Tour 2026 - Days Forty Eight - Fifty One - Battling The Moors And Christians

Our timing, coming to El Campello in October, means we are here for the towns annual Moors and Christians festival. I wrote extensively about it last year. This year, the visit of #1 and 1A coincided with the festival. What we didn't account for was that the guest bedroom in the apartment faces where most of the festival events take place (unlike the other two). And (for some reasons) this year, the festival seems to be a lot louder than the last two years. Combined with major jet lag, this had #1 and 1A in a state of sleep deprived, festival not happiness. Fortunately, they had already planned to do a side trip to Valencia so their sleep and sanity were restored. 

On my part, after the success getting to understand the parade, I decided I was going to overcome my issues with gunfire noise that had nearly ruined my hearing last year and be sure to see the first major event in its fullness, the reenactment of the Moorish invasion. With a modest amount of advanced site reconnaissance I determined where I could be to see what was going on while at the same time not be exposed to the sharp gunfire noise. 

Turns out I was on site way too early and ended up standing watching nothing for almost an hour before things started kicking off. My strategy meant that I was too far away to get decent photos, but you should get the idea despite the low quality level. 

Queue up the Star Spangled Banner! Assault the Tower to get things started.

 

 Here is the general lay of the battlefield. The Christians holding the beach. The Moors invading

 The Christians are clearly having great angst and terror as they realize the assembly of the Moorish armada

 

 

 The presence of Moorish 'Spy' camels...

 

 Whips up the anticipation to even a more fevered pitch

 

 The armada approaches the beach

 

The defenders move into defensive position

 

 A key part of the defense is making sure that you have photographic evidence you were there for the fighting

 

 At last the Moors attack by...

...Jumping off their boats and swimming in?????

 This tactic has the Christians totally stunned!

 At this point, sadly, the amateur historian in my mind jumped in and said, "I don't think any attacker is going to be in a position to fight after swimming a long distance and coming out in waterlogged clothing. And I decided I had had enough. 

Definitely not as enamored with this part of the festival as I am the parade.

Eldership 2025 Spain - Moors And Christians Festival Wrap-up

On Wednesday the multi-day festival concluded. There were numerous events we did not attend. However, our apartment is ideally located to view  the concluding fireworks. I promised in my last festival post to give some additional detail on how the things are organized. Here is what I got from my research.

In the Moors and Christians festival of El Campello, the different groupings of participants are organized into self-contained clubs or associations known as comparsas. These are social and fraternal organizations that operate year-round, preparing for the annual celebration. 

 

Comparsas are the organizing unit: Rather than being based on geography like neighborhoods, participation is defined by membership in a specific comparsa. There are separate comparsas for the Moorish side and the Christian side. In 2025, for example, El Campello featured 17 comparsas.

 

Voluntary membership: The festival brings together local residents and visitors who voluntarily join a comparsa. This creates a sense of community and allows participation to span multiple generations within families.

 

Social and fraternal structure: Members of a comparsa are called festeros and work together throughout the year. They hold social events, make costumes, and organize the details for the parade and festival. Each comparsa typically has its own headquarters (cuartelillos) where they gather.

 

Leadership roles: Within each comparsa, specific leadership roles are filled, particularly the "captain" and "standard-bearer" (banderera). These roles are handed down from one year's festival to the next.

 

Distinct identities: Each comparsa has its own name and identity. For instance, some of

El Campello's comparsas include:

• Christian: Cavallers de Conquesta, Cristians del Campello, Jaume I, and Cavallers de Montesa.
• Moorish: Marrocs, Meixemet, and Zaidies.

 

External participants: While the comparsas are local groups, other organizations are often invited to participate in the festival. For example, music bands (bandas de música) from throughout the region often travel to El Campello to accompany the parades, contributing to the spectacle. 

So we will conclude our Festival Coverage with a fireworks video spectacular.

 

 

Until 2026 

Eldership 2025 Spain - Moors & Christians Festival Part Two

And on Monday, they went to the parade. de-I was apprehensive. Noise. Too many people. standing around for hours. But he would be supportive of Wife and RMG. In the event, it turned out to be a rather incredible experience. This is a predominately picture and video post to give you as full a vision of the experience as I can. I will publish a separate post about the organization of the festival. 

Very briefly, the festival has groups called Comparsas that meet throughout the year to plan and execute their parts of the festival. They design and own the costumes, decide who does what, and are either Moorish or Christian groups. For the purposes of this post, I'd like to bring your attention to what struck me most. That would be the incredible human engagement of these groups at all levels. Whether it be the inclusiveness of all ages and genders, the sheer human joy expressed, and the total immersion into performance creativity. I hope the pictures and videos capture it. And if you want to join us next year (because Wife and I have already booked El Campello in October of 2026), let me know. 

 I will admit to some apprehension after the noise overload at the initial Sunday event. RMG and Wife give me their support.

 

 We got to the parade area way too early. Fortunately, they have chairs along the route that are only 5 euros each.

 Then suddenly stuff starts to happen with people who are going to be in the parade moving to wherever it is being staged.

 

 "I want you standing over here"

 

 "And you better damn clap when I come by!"

 

These guys had some role but we couldn't figure it out until the very end of our stay

 

Finally, it starts!

 

 

 

The bands had a lot of this instrument which I have no idea what it is.

 

 Joy

 

 All Ages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite leaders

 

 

 Head piece repair

 

 

 

 

Get Injured? You're still going to be in!

 

Multiple generations

 

 

My favorite costume!

 

 

 Moorish Finale

 

 

 

Backs of costumes...should have shot more of these

 

The Token Christian Section

We'd already been at the parade for over two hours when the Christians showed up. We were tired and bad need of a bathroom. Besides I've never forgiven them for deporting all the Jews in 1492.

Remember our friends on the corner at the start?

 

 Christian Knights

  

A final dance