The annual Berber Raids fiestas in Los Alcázares

Holy Week processions are replaced by a commemoration of medieval times in the town of Los Alcázares!

Every spring, coinciding with austerity which marks Holy Week and Easter in the rest of the Region of Murcia, the town of Los Alcázares on the shore of the Mar Menor embarks on a few days of fiestas to commemorate the dark days in the history of the area when Berbers from north Africa launched frequent pirate raids on the coastline of Murcia.

The celebrations go by the name of the “Fiesta de las Incursiones Berberiscas” and takes locals and visitors back to the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries, when this part of Spain was under constant threat and the population was reluctant to settle near the coast due to the instability in the area. Defence existed only in the shape of the watchtowers which can still be seen in many parts of the Murcia coast, but these served only to warn the population of the imminent arrival of the next raid and were insufficient to deter the attackers from their pillaging and looting.

(Click here for a lengthier account of the history of Los Alcázares.)

One of these towers, the Torre de Rame, can still be seen in Los Alcázares, where it sits in the rather more tranquil surroundings of the La Serena golf course and residential area!

It was not until the Modern era, in the 19^th century, that the Berber threat finally diminished and cattle farmers brought their animals to the pasture land nearer the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor, but even then the terror brought by pirates such as Morato Arráez remained firmly ingrained in the minds of the locals.

Eventually, in the year 2000, the festivities of the Incursiones Berberiscos were held for the first time, although that first edition consisted of little more than a medieval market at which the nieighbouring town of Torre Pacheco brought their “Trinitarios y Berberiscos” groups to stage a parade, but the following year the Town Hall of Los Alcázares organized its own processions and the fiestas have grown in importance ever since.

In some ways the fiestas have come to represent the end of winter in Los Alcázares, signalling the first arrivals at the beaches of the Mar Menor prior to the busy summer tourist season, and in the absence of Semana Santa processions in this part of Murcia this is an entertaining, colourful and extremely popular alternative: after all, it’s hard to deny the appeal of the tapas route, celebratory processions, a huge range of entertainments for all ages and plenty to eat and drink!

Images: incursionesberberiscas.com

For more local information contact the tourist offices in Los Alcázares or go to the home page of Los Alcázares Today.