Marbella’s annual celebrations in honour of the town’s patron saint, San Bernabé, kicked off last Sunday with a large number of happy residents appearing in Avenida del Mar dressed up for the fair. Held every year from 6th to 12th June, the festival begins with the romeria or pilgrimage to Pinar de Nagüeles in a colourful procession that includes painted and decorated wagons drawn by horses and a large number of followers from Marbella.
The procession ends at the shrine in the forest, where the main celebrations of the day follow. Naturally, the pilgrimage ends on Monday night with spectacular fireworks at 11 pm, which mark the official start to the fair. The remainder of celebrations takes place at the fairground La Cañada III.
During the day, residents of Marbella and visitors can enjoy numerous festivities in Marbella town centre, where bars set up in La Alameda Park and Avenida del Mar welcome festival revellers daily from 1.00 pm onwards. For the first time this year the fair in the town centre has its own entrance arch, beautifully decorated with floral displays.
What can visitors look forward to at San Bernabé Fair?
Well, local dance schools for example will take to the stage in Avenida del Mar from 5.00 onwards to show their skills. Activities and performances move to the fairground in La Cañada III from ca. 7.00 pm onwards, where live music and dancing until dawn, children’s activities and entertainments and late evening concerts are just some of the excitements visitors can look forward to.
Friday is the day many residents have been looking forward to the most – it is the day when the Gigantes y Cabezudos, a procession of people wearing enormous heads made from papier mâché, makes its way through the town from noon onwards.
On Saturday 11th June, religious processions in honour of Marbella’s patron saint reveal a large number of devout people carrying an effigy of San Bernabé to Encarnación church, where a mass is held.
Living in the Moment
Andalucía’s many festivals and fairs are part of the attraction and reason why so many tourists flock to the Costa del Sol every summer, but it is also one of the reasons why many people choose to live in Spain. With more than 300 days of guaranteed sunshine a year, Marbella and its surrounding area offer an outdoor lifestyle and a joie de vivre that is simply not possible to obtain in northern European countries.
Although house prices in Spain have not returned to their 2007 levels, more properties were sold and bought in Andalucía in March 2016 than in any other region. Andalucía, led by demand for luxury property in Marbella's exclusive developments, out-performed all other regions with 6,299 transactions, compared to 5,123 in Catalunya and 4,878 in the Spanish capital Madrid. Overall, the country saw a 16.8% increase in March, compared to the same month in 2015. According to the country’s National Statistics Institute, a total of 31,925 house sale transactions were recorded for Spain this March. Of those, 25,800 were second-hand homes.
Indeed, the new-built housing market is still lagging way behind the resale sector, where sales rose by 24.2% in March this year, compared to March 2015.
It seems then that Marbella residents have more reason than ever to be thankful for San Bernabé’s protection and beneficial influence. Record numbers of holidaymakers expected this summer, together with a healthier residential property market, have resulted in more jobs in Malaga Province becoming available, even if some of them are only temporary until the end of October, when the summer seasons officially ends.
Cultural highlights such as the San Bernabé Fair at the Costa del Sol are only just beginning. As many tourists have discovered in the past, an al fresco life Andalucía-style and the region’s living in the moment attitude are very, very seductive. So tempting in fact, many first-time visitors return to the Costa del Sol to become first-time house buyers in Marbella. Taking advantage of still relatively low Spanish house prices allows them to secure their place in the pilgrimage of northern Europeans to a healthier, happier life in Andalucía.
Spanish speakers can find full details of this year’s San Bernabé Fair at http://www.marbella.es/