The Battle of Flowers / Batalla de las flores
The end of April and the beginning of May is the best time to visit the city of Cordoba on the south of Spain, because the season of lively and colorful festivals starts. As a first one, I saw the battle of flowers between people on decorated carriages and visitors – it was a real one; carnations flew all around.
This Andalusian city has always been an important center. It was built by the Romans, conquered first by the Moors, then by the Christians. Everyone left a trace here. The famous Mezquita, mosque, was converted into a catholic cathedral in the thirteen century, but retained many original elements. Alcázar, the Palace of the Christian Kings, is known for its enchanting terraced gardens and evening light show on the lakes, surrounded by roses. The curvy, bumpy streets hide a number of small, but lovely surprises and secret corners. For example the silver workshops in the old Jewish quarter where it is hard to resist a beautiful handmade jewelry. I had a feeling I would visit them on the last day….
While walking aimlessly, I discovered the hidden treasures. Like an unusual floral decoration: the locals are obsessed with plants; in the courtyards of restaurants they usually create something like a tropical jungle, you enter through the green curtain and the pots are hanging on the walls.
Although the temperature in the inland during the lunchtime approached 40 °C, Cordoba wasn’t parched yet. The parks were full of flowers; fences were overgrown by sweetly smelling jasmine and the trees were glowing with oranges. The best time to organize a couple of fiestas, right? For Spaniards, they mark the end of winter and the beginning of summer. I was lucky, during my five days stay I happened to see four of them!
The opening one was Batalla de las Flores, the Battle of Flowers, starting at noon. The first evidence about it goes back to the 1940s, then for several years, they stopped organizing it and in the middle of the 1980s, it became popular again. Thank God! It wasn’t the first one I attended, but it was the most beautiful.
The procession of floats decorated with paper flowers slowly went along Paseo de la Victoria promenade. The participants, mostly señoras in typical colorful Andalusian dresses with frills, sat on the carriages and held bags with carnations. I thought they would just symbolically toss few on us, but when the gorgeous and shining cars approached, the fun began. The corollas were flying all around and we, spectators, were screaming, picking them and throwing back to people on the carriages. Comparing to the battle of flowers in Nice, where the girls only launch to the crowd some prepared bouquets; here it was a real fight for dear life, up to 140 000 carnations of all colors were thrown!
I must repeat it again, that the most amazing were the colors. Imagine a deep blue sky, palm leaves whispering in the wind and a lot of yellow, pink, red, orange, purple shades ... you can feel the fresh energy flowing through your body.
By the way, the carnation is considered a Spanish national flower, allegedly because it is a part of the flamenco's dresses and pasos, floats adorned with life-size statues of saints, carried in the processions. Many Christians believe that the first one appeared on earth when Virgin Mary cried as Jesus carried his cross. It symbolizes pride and beauty, but every color has a different meaning: white - friendship, red - passion, pink - eternal love, beige - give me time to think. A yellow and violet flower you should present to somebody in Spain only if you are sure these are the favorite colors of the donee, otherwise you would offend him: yellow means disappointment and contempt and purple hostility.
The parade went around the promenade twice, then all the people went for lunch and shopping. As it was the time of spring festivities, many women decided to complete their wardrobes. It was obvious they enjoyed the opportunity to show a new flamenco dress :)
Andalusian women love to dress up. Just to give you an idea what that means: their hair is divided in the middle, on each side hold with several small combs and in the back wrapped into bun. On top of the head, there is a fabric rose, protected by a big comb, so-called peineta.
They must not forget earrings, necklace and a fan. Over the shoulders, they put a shawl pined with a brooche, the older ladies can also have a precious lace veil, mantilla. Of course, everything has to match. I saw them picking and choosing in the shop and it is really a serious matter. Mother helps daughter, Grandma's granddaughter, girl comes with friends. They try, put on, look for the most suitable shade; they rummage through all the drawers and boxes of the amazingly stocked boutiques. For them it is not a ,,carnival dress” (like for tourists), but the part of the common life. The real Andalusian celebrates all the festivities always in a typical costume.
The dresses are lined to hold a form and adorned with millions of ruches and lace, they weight a few kilos. I was surprised to see that most of them were from synthetic material, I wouldn’t be able to survive in forty degrees in such ,,hermetical armor”. I would faint after three steps! How do these women do? Have they different sweat glands than me? What is the secret?! Maybe you just need to be born as Spanish…:)
Instead of shopping, I went to eat. I tasted the local specialty salmorejo. It is a cold soup, similar to a gazpacho, but thick like a mash and sprinkled with pieces of ham or egg.
I confess, that then I went to sleep to the hotel like a little kid. The high temperature took its toll, coming from the tepid climate to the tropics, it is a load for the organism ... and there wasn’t any pool open yet!
See also:
The May Crosses festival, Cordoba
Virgen de Linares pilgrimage, Cordoba
Patios festival, Cordoba
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