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Moors and Christians John Smith ALTHOUGH it could be argued that as blood was often shed before the Christians regained Spain from the Moors, dressing up as a Moor shouldn’t be popular. That was far from the case in Vera which celebrated its Moors and Christians Festival on Saturday June 8 and thousands attended the celebration. Perhaps when the fiesta was re-introduced just 10 years ago, it was recognised the Moors had much more flamboyant clothing and this is why so many troupes, particularly young women, side with the Moors. So much happened in a relatively short period of time, but locals had been getting ready for the event, with the Moors and Christians Tapas Route which ran until June 10, the parade of Big Heads which attracted many children as they marched with the Municipal Band and the exhi-
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Credit: Vera Council
Costa de Almeria • Issue No. 2032 • 13 - 19 June 2024
One of the colourful troupes in Vera adopting the Moorish style.
bition of medieval armour and flags which was held at the Victoria Convent. It was a shame that there were insufficient entries to allow the usual living chess battle between children dressed as Moors and Christians to take place but
this didn’t diminish the excitement that that those watching the event felt. There was a smell of gunpowder, the clatter of horse’s hooves and ceremonial handing over of the keys to the ancient gates to the town.
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