Ayamonte

Property is all about location or so they say, and Ayamonte has everything in terms of location. Golden sandy beaches, three golf courses, the Guadiana River and Faro International airport only 45 minutes drive away. Seville International aiport is a little over an hour away but over ninety per cent of all visitors, tourists and indeed residents use Faro airport as their main airport. There is also the novelty of knowing that you can leave Ayamonte at the time you want to arrive at the check-in Faro. The difference of one hour between Spanish time and Portuguese time also means that you can ring in the New year twice simply by driving over the bridge. Like it’s been said it all about location and Ayamonte has it.

Ayamonte has a rich cultural history and throughout the year there are various exhibitions and concerts featuring local, national and international talent. There are various interesting old buildings and monuments dotted throughout the town.
The sports and leisure facilities are many and varied. The local fiestas have to be experienced to be believed. Here are some of the dates that should not be missed:

 
January – Procession of the three Kings.
The fifth of January is the night when the three Kings visit the children to bring their Christmas presents. 

The Kings parade through the streets throwing sweets to the delighted and beaming children. It not unusual to see all the kids carrying umbrellas but they are not for the rain but a useful tool went turned upside –down to catch the thousands of sweets that are thrown from the passing parade.

End of February – Carnival
Carnival in the south of Spain has a very musical theme and although carnival typically starts the week before Lent, the musical competitions that are associated with Carnival start their preliminary almost two weeks before that. In Ayamonte, “Ayamontinos” dress up in their carnival costumes and parade through the streets to the delight of the thousands of onlookers.  Tractors, carts and other vehicles are drawn into the carnival to act as floats to transport the various groups of carnival participants as they make their way through the town. Meanwhile in the Cardenio Theatre (Ayamonte’s main Hall) musical groups that compete in Carnival musical competition, these groups are not your common street bands, but usually a group of friends or co-workers who compose a song that treats a common theme with irony and sarcasm. Politicians, the health service, the economic crisis are common topics that will undoubtedly come in for a severe pasting every year.
The festival on the street may not be like Rio de Janeiro, simply because it is winter here, but the parades (Gran Cabalgata de Carnaval) are well worth taking the time out to see. And for those of you who want to venture out to socialise during Carnival, some sort of a costume is expected. Carnival ends on Ash Wednesday with the Burial of the Sardine (Entierro de la Sardina), which is usually a giant cardboard sardine which is set on fire at the end of the parade.

March/April – Holy week (Semana Santa)

Holy week is a solemn but spectacular event in Ayamonte. Crosses and effigies built on thrones are brought out of the churches and paraded through the narrow cobble streets.  The silence of the thousands of onlookers is only broken by the sound of the beating drums.  The thrones which weigh hundreds of kilos are hoisted high by  the Costaleros , members of the religious brotherhood who carry the effigies on their shoulders aounds the town in a slow parade. The dedication, the skill and sheer effort to carry all that weight for hours is enough to gain the respect from any spectator. On occasions they only have millimetres to manoeuvre the thrones and remembering that these effigies are centuries old and of incalculable value, it only adds to the occasion.

Holy week in Ayamonte goes back 500 years and is now considered to be an outstanding national fiesta. In Ayamonte, the children have started a new tradition of collecting the candle wax from the passing procession and it is not uncommon to see them with multi-coloured balls of wax the size of tennis balls by the end of Easter.

May – “Romeria”
The Spanish dress up in their traditional dress and celebrate.  The “romerias” are a festival of colour and tradition with young and old alike attired in long Spanish dresses or suits.   The “romerias” are a celebration of the local patrons and throughout the month of May in Ayamonte and surrounding districts you can join in with the locals and sing, dance, eat and drink the weekend away.

Beginning of September – “Las Angustias” fiesta

Las-Angustias the fiesta for “Our lady of Angustias” has its main day on the 8 th. September but on the days leading up to this date, and the days after, the fiesta continues.   “Our lady of Anguistias” is paraded through the streets of Ayamonte and people come from far and wide to watch the spectacular procession. During the fiesta there are; sporting activities, painting and photography exhibitions and concerts by well know Spanish singers. The festival starts with the arrival of the local band on the ferry from Villa Real de Santo Antonio and from there they march to the fairground for the swithng on of the festival lights.

The majority of the partying goes on in Fairground located just behind the Congress Centre on the main road into the town centre.

13th. November – Saint Diego Fiesta

Diego is the Patron Saint of Ayamonte and he is paraded through the streets on this date.  It is traditional to eat “roscas de San Diego” – a simply made cake similar to bread, in remembrance of the work that Saint Diego did for the sick and needy in Ayamonte.