My Guide Website?
Spain hosts massive beach parties to celebrate the fiesta of San Juan on June 23 with barbecues, music, food and friends. Often the celebrations will be put on hold until the nearest weekend so revellers have time to recover!
From mid-afternoon families will start staking out their spot on the sand to celebrate mid-summer. Bonfires are lit so that on the stroke of midnight, revellers can jump over them three times to be cleansed and have their problems burned away.
These scenes are played out all over the the Costa Blanca, Alicante has taken the celebrations one step further and holds the hogueras fiesta at the same time. This is very similar to the fallas fiesta celebrated in Valencia in March when giant, satirical statues are put up in the street to be burnt on St Joseph’s day.
As it is such a major tourist attraction, Alicante decided to build a similar festival for San Juan in June. It is not such a grand affair but it is still a chance to see the city poke fun of politicians and celebrities in a fun, party atmosphere.
About two days before San Juan, a dozen statues are built in the streets for the midnight burning on the special saint’s day.