bonfire of san juan | Ray and Shelley's Retirement Adventures

Every year for the past 90 years, Alicante has hosted the “Hougeres” and celebrated the bonfires of San Jaun. We were fortunate to be invited to our friends place to watch the “Noche de la Cremà“ which is the burning of the hougeres. We headed there early to take a walk around the hougere before going up to the apartment.

The hougere was three storeys high and had some beautiful features to it.

Detailed different features of the hougere

There was also a smaller hougere which was done by children which was also very impressive and beautiful.

It was sad to think that all of the 89 hougeres in the city would be destroyed by fire later in the night. We went up to our friends apartment to spend the evening and watch the activities. We gathered on the terrace to enjoy the party and watch the crowds.

The apartment overlooks one of the main hougeres on a large street in Alicante. We had a perfect view from their terrace.

The view of the hougeres from the terrace

The view down the street was full of people and lights.

The view down the street from the terrace

We watched people gather and get ready for the burning of the hougeres. The fire truck arrived and began to set up and prepare for the burning.

Fire truck arriving at the hougere to set up for the burning

The burning of the hougeres begins at midnight and is signaled by a large palm fireworks sent up from the Santa Barbara Castle.

After the signal we watched for the start of the burning of our hougere. There were fireworks going off throughout the city and the atmosphere was incredible. We enjoyed watching the burning of our hougere and seeing the firefighters spraying the crowd with water.

People edging the firefighter on and getting sprayed with water

The spraying of the crowd is a ritual in the event. The crowd chants insults at them in jest and they then turn the water spray on the crowd. There is also a song which roughly translates to “Wet me fireman, please wet me. I’m dying of heat, save me from this hot flush”. The crowd also chant “agua, agua, agua”over and over until they get sprayed. It is all done in fun.

Small hougere burning and firefighters spraying the crowd with water

We put the following video together to give you an idea of the extent and amazing nature of the burning of the hougeres. The video is only a small portion of the party that continues throughout the night.

The experience was one we will always remember. It is amazing how the Bonfires of San Juan and the Hougeres in Alicante are celebrated every year.

“Adios y que tengas un gran dia”