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Why is there a ten-metre castle sitting on a beach in Alicante?
La Vila Joiosa's famous Moors and Christians Festival gets under way on Thursday July 24, and the seafront stage is already stealing the show
If you happen to be walking along the Centro beach in La Vila Joiosa this week, don't be alarmed by what you see rising from the sand. It's not a mirage. It's a castle, and it's meant to be there.Every summer, one of the most striking and photographed sights on the Alicante coast appears on this beach in the form of a full-scale festival fortress, built specifically for the town's Moors and Christians celebrations. This year is no different.
The structure is already up, standing over ten metres tall and stretching twelve metres wide, with a five-metre turret on each side constructed from marine plywood. The ground and first floor facade is fitted with metal panels for durability, a practical touch given the demands of a week-long festival by the sea.
Jaime Santamaría, the Councillor for Festivals, is clearly pleased with how it's looking. "The castle has already been erected on the beach," he said. "Once again, it is one of the essential elements for the Moors and Christians Festival." He also pointed out that the structure was completely overhauled in 2025, with improvements made to both safety and comfort for those taking part in the events.
And there's something genuinely wonderful about the contrast it creates. A few metres away, the Mediterranean rolls in as normal, bathers stretch out under their umbrellas, children run along the shoreline, and right in the middle of it all, this three-storey fortress dominates the sand as if it's always been there. It's the kind of sight that makes people stop and stare, and then reach for their phones.
The castle forms the centrepiece of several of the main events during the Moors and Christians Festival, which runs from Thursday July 24 to Friday July 31, recreating the historic conquest of La Vila Joiosa in a week of pageantry, colour and spectacle that the town looks forward to all year.
If you haven't been before, it's well worth a visit. The castle alone is reason enough to go.
Image: Ayuntamiento de La Vila Joiosa
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