We awoke early and took the Tram to El Campello, a city approximately 20 minutes away from Alicante.  We went early to attended the beginning of the Moors and Christian festival which started at 7 am. We arrived to find a large crowd of people already lined up along the beach.

The festival which is held every year to observe the patron saint, the Mare de Déu dels Desemparats. The events are recreated to depict the history of the Moorish occupation of the area between 700 and 1400 AD.

The beginning of the festival includes the reenacted of the arrival of the Moorish army by boat. As they approach the shore of El Campello in a flotilla of boats, torches are lit, cannons fire and musket shots rings out.

When they arrived at the shore, the battle continued on the beach. They fought each other in a choreographed  battle with swords and on horseback. It was truly an exciting and amazing thing to watch.

We watched the battle for approximately 45 minutes before the reenactment moved along the shoreline to the castle where the next leg of the reenactment begins.

The Moors and Christians face off at the castle in a long speech in Spanish. Unfortunately, we could not understand what was being said, however, it was very interesting to watch.

The reenactment was very well done and spectators would get dressed in the traditional dress to attend the festival.

They even had real camels in the reenactment.

We watched the entire reenactment which was very interesting and enjoyable.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”