Time for another trip to Spain and this time we would be going to the fiestas in the village of Rafales (where Maite spent her summers growing up).  In true Spanish fashion, we arrived in Rafales at 4am and went out to party until about 8am when the party finished and the sun was rising.

For 5 nights, during the fiestas, there were bands playing from around 8pm to 4am and then a DJ until 8am.  Most of our nights involved going out to see the band at about 12AM and lasting as long as we could!:P  Some nights we made it to the end (sunrise) and a group photo was taken each morning with who was still out.  We had a great time during the party’s at night and seeing a lot of Maite’s friends.  Maria and Neil were over so it was nice to have a fellow Brit to speak English with too.  Also, some of the bands were quite Eurovisony which I found hilarious!

The days were very chilled (not literally they were roasting) and mostly involved relaxing, family meals, enjoying the sun and little wanders around the village.  On one day Maria and Jose came through so it was nice to catch up with them.

On the last day of the fiestas there was meal in the village square.  Food was provided and people brought their own tables, chairs and drinks.  There was a really nice atmosphere in the square and the charanga (brass band that had been hired for the fiestas) were also playing which I really enjoyed.   A bit later on the water party started which involved the charanga playing through the streets of the village at 1AM, everyone following them and people chucking buckets of water on you from terraces above! For the first time, this year there were also people in the streets throwing buckets of water.  It was sooo much fun and the whole time you were very alert trying to see where water might come from!

After the fiestas we spent a couple of days in Alcaniz.  On the first day we went up to Dani and Lidia’s masico (kind of cottage) just outside Alcaniz where we had a good time eating, drinking and playing games in the sun.  Dani and Lidia’s friends Ruben and Espe were also there and Maite had a lot of fun playing with her nephew Ian.  The next day Maite’s parents took us to a kind of fancy restaurant where we had some amazing food.

We then went back to Rafales where the temperatures were slightly more bearable.  Me and Maite went for a wee hike out of the village to Los Estrechos which is a very cool climbing location.  The mountain views along the route were really nice and it was awesome to see so many almond and olive trees everywhere.  On our last day in Rafales we spent our afternoon at the swimming pool to cool down.

Me and Maite had a great time in Spain.  As always it was very relaxing and great to catch up with family and friends…and also get a vitamin D top-up! 😛  The fiestas were awesome and would love to go again if we get the chance.