Jumilla is the hidden jewel in northeast Murcia. It is a typically Spanish country town – best known to wine-drinkers for its red wine and many bodegas – and is surrounded by mountains and vineyards. Anybody staying on the Costa Blanca or Costa Calida who wants to experience the real Spain should venture inland and visit Jumilla.
Most people who visit here say that they are surprised by how big the town is, and you certainly need to spend at least one day in Jumilla to see the main sights and of course to enjoy some of its fine wines!
Wandering through the narrow streets of the old town gives an insight into the fascinating history of Jumilla, which was occupied by the Iberians, Romans and Arabs before the Spanish king Alfonso X re-conquered what was then known as Xumilla for the Kingdom of Castile in 1241.
Jardín del Rey Don Pedro
Important historic monuments include the well-preserved 5th century mausoleum known as El Casón, the impressive 15th century Church of Santiago and the recently restored Castle. The fortress that we see today dominating the skyline was constructed in 1461 by Juan Pacheco, the Marquis of Villena.
Other places worth visiting in Jumilla include several interesting museums, the lovely 19th century Teatro Vico, modernist style houses, as well as charming squares and gardens to explore.
Just outside the town there are several good walks for those of you who enjoy being active, especially in the Sierra de El Carche and Sierra de Santa Ana. If you go to the Sierra de Santa Ana, a visit to the Monasterio and its fascinating museum is a must.
Monasterio at Santa Ana
The good news for those of you on a budget is that a day trip to Jumilla won’t cost you a fortune. The majority of museums are free and the privately owned Museo Jésus Nazareno only charges 1€, which should not break the bank.
Contact Walkers Tours of Jumilla if you would like a free guided walk around Jumilla in English (and Scottish!). Sue and John can arrange for you to visit a local bodega for 5€, which includes wine-tasting and snacks, and if you fancy having lunch in Jumilla they are able to recommend several local restaurants, where you can have a delicious menú del día from 8€ including all your drinks. What are you waiting for?
So much has happened since my previous post that I would need to write another book just to relate all the stories! These are the edited highlights:
Thursday 12th August: Gran de Exultación del Vino. What a great party that was, as described in my previous post.
Saturday 14 August: National Folklore Festival, with performances in the streets and plazas at 13.00. Well I was there at 13.00, as were many friends from La Asociación de Amigos de Jumilla who were the hosts, plus two officers from the local police – but where were the performers from the Grupo de Coros y Danzas Nazarín? They eventually strolled up at quarter past one and by half past the performance had started. The only problem was the local police had become bored and wandered off, so the Presidente of the Asociación had to direct the traffic!
What I loved about the different groups taking part in the Folklore Festival was the way they all obviously enjoyed performing for us.
At the end of the performance, guess who turned up? Yes, the local police returned with barriers to stop the traffic coming through. Sorry, guys, you are a bit too late: we’re all off now for wine and nibbles at the Asociacón’s meeting place!
Except that I didn’t go this year, even though I had an invitation, as John wasn’t feeling well so I had to hurry back home now that I had taken my photos. I say “hurry”, however I had a slight detour to make.
Saturday 14 August: Miniferia del Vino We know so many of the local bodegas that it would have been very rude to have ignored this event, wouldn’t it? Yes, that’s what I thought. I paid 3€ for a glass and was then able to go round the 13 stands set up by local bodegas in the Jardín del Rey Don Pedro for free tastings. Not that I had 13 glasses of wine (of course not!) and anyway you don’t get a whole glassful, but I had to say “Hola” to Fina, Fernando, Silvano and many other friends, didn’t I? And I couldn’t insult them by refusing to try their wine, especially when Silvano was offering his award-winning Monastrell Dulce. “Un poco, gracias!”
Gracias, Silvano!
Saturday 14 August: Entrada Cristiana Luckily John had recovered by the evening, as we had arranged to meet friends at Bar California so that we could watch the Entrance of the Christians. This procession has everything: fantastic costumes, music, dancing, drama and a wonderful atmosphere. At regular points they have a jousting display, however I had to run up the street with my camera to take photos as it didn’t happen opposite our table.
Entrada Cristiana
My photos were a bit dark, which I suspected would be the case, after all the procession was due to start at 10 in the evening. I say “due to start”, however we weren’t surprised when it started later than that, which is why we had grabbed a table and ordered tapas and a bottle of wine so that we could wait in comfort.
Sunday 15 August: National Folklore Festival with more performances in the street. We decided to watch the performance in Calle Calvario, as it was a group from Tarragona and we hoped that they would form a casteller or human castle. We were not disappointed, although they didn’t have much space so it had to be a small castle compared to the nine storeys they usually form in the region of Tarragona.
Building the human castle
On our way back we bumped into Carmelita, who told us to go to a bar up the road where there would be a “comida” at 2pm. We hadn’t made any plans so the four of us followed her instructions, only to discover that the bar was in a garage! The Asociación de Vecinos de San Antón were providing lunch, sangria and wine for the folk group from Asturias , however we were immediately welcomed, told that we were “Jumillanos” as well as being “Ingleses”, and asked whether we wanted sangria or vino. You cannot beat Spanish hospitality!
They can't stop dancing!
After the meal, a couple of the musicians started playing and the dancers soon joined in. Over two hours later we continued our journey home.
Monday 16 August: Entrada Mora Another 10pm start, more or less. Our previous strategy of getting there early and grabbing a table had proved successful, so this time we headed to Bar Canovas. A table outside? Tick. Bottle of wine and tapas? Tick. Camera ready? Tick. Procession starting on time? No way! Not that we minded waiting: sitting outside the bar on a lovely August evening wasn’t exactly a hardship. We all agreed that, brilliant though the Entrada Cristiana on Saturday night had been, the Entrada Mora was even more exciting.
Entrada Mora
We enjoyed watching a dramatic re-enactment of a damsel in distress being rescued from the dark forces by our hero, although we weren’t really sure what it was all about! Watch the video below, then if you know more than we do, please leave a comment explaining its significance!
Tuesday 17 August: Representación de las Embajadas y Parlamento de Moros Y Cristianos John and I had stumbled across this last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so we persuaded four other Brits to join us on the Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola. The performance was a brief history of the Castillo de Jumilla, which was originally held by the Moors until the Christians captured the castle. Lots of drama and clashing of swords, which incidentally weren’t plastic imitations judging by the sound of metal against metal, with a few sparks flying!
Thursday 19 August: Cabalgata Tradicional This is the highlight of the Fiesta de la Vendimia so far as John and I are concerned. We had persuaded several friends to come along and watch this procession, so we decided to book a couple of tables at Bar California. Being optimistic we arrived at 8pm, although the procession wasn’t due to leave until 8.30. Our major mistake was ordering a second bottle of wine, just before the procession reached us! We knew many of the participants, who handed us plastic glasses of wine and sangria, and even small bottles of wine! The floats were brilliant, the atmosphere was amazing, with lots of music and dancing, and it was lovely to recognise and be recognised by so many of the people taking part.
Cabalgata tradicional
Friday 20 August: Desfile de Carruajes y Caballos I was due to fly to London on Friday to help my daughter Vicky celebrate her 40th birthday, however I had already packed and I didn’t want to miss the horses and carriages on Friday morning. I was hoping that for once the event would start on time, however it wasn’t to be. Still, it was worth the wait to watch the beautiful horses parading past us.
Saturday 21 August: Gran Cabalgata del Vino This is the famous (or should that be infamous?) procession on the final Saturday of the Fiesta de la Vendimia. To be quite honest, although it’s good to watch (mainly young) people enjoying themselves as they get drenched with red wine, once you have seen it you don’t really need to see it again. Plus I had an important date in London! John went though with a couple of friends, so this is his photo.
Apparently 80,000 litres of wine and sangria were sprayed over the 75,000 participants who came from Alicante, Albacete, Valencia and Murcia provinces and even the Canary Islands. John saw several busloads of people arriving, however in spite of all the strangers in town there were no serious incidents. I suspect that there were a few sore heads the following day though!
So the Fiesta is over for another year, and life will return to normal – except that we had a message from our friend Toñi, telling us that there is a Fiesta in Torre del Rico and would we like to go there?
Help! I can’t keep up with the action in Jumilla: we attended several events during the National Folklore Festival this weekend; I visited the miniferia del vino on Saturday; we sat outside Bar California with friends, watching the spectacular Entrada Cristiana (with a few Moros managing to sneak into the procession too) and yesterday we enjoyed the hospitality of AAVV San Anton. No time to report everything, as lots more coming up in the Fiesta de la Vendimia, however I will post some photos once the festivities are over.
This week’s highlights:
Monday 16th August
22.00 Entrance of the Moors. Procession from Arco de San Roque to Plaza del Rollo.
Tuesday 17th August
20.30 Children´s Procession from Plaza del Rollo to the Mercado via Calle Canovas and Avenida Levante.
22.15 Representation of the Moros and Cristianos embassies: a great spectacle ending with fireworks.
Wednesday 18th August
21.00 Offering of the grapes and first must to the Niño de las Uvas. Jardín de la Glorieta.
Thursday 19th August
11.00 Exhibition of floats taking part in the Cabalgata. Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
20.30 Cabalgata Tradicional. The traditional procession leaves from Plaza del Rollo, going through the streets of Jumilla: we like this one as they hand out samples of wine!
Friday 20th August
12.00 Parade of horses and carriages through the streets of Jumilla: leaving from Teatro Vico, along Calle Cánovas, Avenida de la Asunción, and finishing on Paseo Poeta Lorenzo Guardiola.
Saturday 21st August
19.00 Gran Cabalgata del Vino. This is the infamous procession, where you get soaked in red wine if you get too close to the floats (wear old clothes!), and everybody has a good time.
Having read the sad story about our failed attempt to buy tickets for the Gran Fiesta last year, I am sure you will be delighted to hear that our campaign this year was more successful.
John and I started queueing outside the new Roque Baños Sociocultural Centre at 5pm. Much to our amazement, what looked like 100 Jumillanos were ahead of us in the queue, and there were barriers in place so that an orderly queue was formed. We had been told that they would start selling the tickets at 8pm and there would be a limit of two per person.
Our friends Lesley and John arrived at 5.30 and they too were amazed to see the well behaved queue (this is Spain after all!). Plan A was then put into operation, as our friend John took my place in the queue and I joined Lesley in the bar, where we ordered a bottle of Taus, one of our favourite local red wines. A man started complaining when John appeared, until we explained that he was only replacing me in the queue and that I was going off to drink wine with Lesley. I noticed several of the women nodding their approval of this scheme!
We were good to the boys: taking our turn in the queue and also leaving them more than half of the bottle of wine. We rang them after one hour, just in case they forgot to come back for their next shift! They got to the front of the queue at about 8.30 and returned, clutching their tickets triumphantly.
“Was it worth it?” I hear you ask. Was it worth it!
The sky wasn't looking very promising
We parked at Salones Pio XII just after 9pm, and our first concern was the stormy looking clouds overhead. Not long afterwards, John said “Was that lightning or was it a flash from somebody’s camera?” His question was answered by a loud roll of thunder.
We could see that the tables had all been set up outside. Hmm. I know it is August and we are in Spain, but there had been rain only a few nights ago and hadn’t the organisers spotted all those dark clouds?
Luckily the organisers’ optimism was rewarded, and the clouds moved away. The evening started with lots of speeches (this is Spain after all!) and everybody looked hopefully towards the tables where local bodegas had set out lots of bottles of wine, but to no avail. We had some chilled bottles of water to stop us getting thirsty, however clearly there was to be no vino until the opening speeches had been concluded.
Where's the vino?
I thought the clapping at the end of the last and longest speech was particularly heartfelt, and then everybody headed off happily towards the tables of wine.
Earlier in the day we had all gone for a guided walk around Jumilla, showing off the sights of our town to a group of nine Brits from Calasparra, followed by an excellent menú del día that we had booked for them at Restaurante San Agustín. We hadn’t eaten again before going out for the evening, which was lucky, as more and more plates of delicious food kept on appearing. Eventually even I had to say “no”!
It wasn’t just the good food and wine, or the lovely surroundings in the gardens at Salones Pio XII: the party atmosphere was really great. Lots of Spanish friends and neighbours came over to greet us and have a chat, so we introduced our friends to Lesley and John, who in turn introduced John and me to their friends.
Everybody was having a good time, as Lesley put it, “without being rowdy or anybody getting drunk”. There must have been almost 1,500 revellers there celebrating the start of the Feria y Fiestas de Jumilla, and the only problem was the long queue of cars, as people made their way home at the end of a brilliant evening!
During August Jumilla has not just one but four fiestas to look forward to. There is the renowned Fiesta de la Vendimia, the 29th National Folklore Festival, the XXIV Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos and the Fiesta of the Virgen de la Asunción, the patroness of Jumilla. Yes, it’s party time in Jumilla – and the wine is flowing!
On Saturday night, the opening event of the Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos was held at the newly opened “Roque Baños” Cultural Centre. We sat outside, enjoying a couple of bottles of good Jumilla wine and some tasty tapas with our friends, while watching the proceedings. Afterwards we listened to a concert by AJAM (Asociación Jumillana Amigos de la Música), playing several Moors and Christians marches as well as a couple of pasodobles.
The next event in the Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos will be on Saturday 7th August: La Noche de las Antorchas. This is the first time we have been in Jumilla to watch the torchlight procession up to the Castle, so we are looking forward to it. We are also hoping to get invitations to the concert in the castle after the procession: Musici Mundi by Jésus Parra.
On Sunday 8th August, Jumilla celebrates the Offering of Flowers to the Virgen de la Asunción. At 20.00 the procession will leave the Jardín del Rollo, going along Calle Canovas del Castillo to the Church of Santiago.
The Fiesta de la Vendimia will kick off on Thursday 12th August, with the Gran Fiesta de Exaltación del Vino at Salones Pio XII. Last year we queued up outside the Ayuntamiento, hoping to get tickets, but were disappointed. If we are luckier this year, I will definitely post some photos on here! The Gran Fiesta includes lots of good wine, local gastronomic delicacies, music and fireworks: all the ingredients of a great party (or gran fiesta!) Our fingers are definitely crossed.
In my next post I will tell you more about upcoming events in the Fiesta de la Vendimia as well as the National Folklore Festival. If you want a copy of our “What’s on in Jumilla” newsletter, fill out the form on the Contact page.
We discovered the Ruta del Vino not long after we moved to Jumilla, and we have enjoyed participating in their various activities: in particular their “Música entre Vinos” events in the summer months. It struck us as an excellent idea, as we both enjoy listening to all types of music and we also enjoy tasting all types of wine.
We have to thank “Música entre Vinos” for introducing us to our good friend Juana María, whom we first met in Bodegas Viña Campanero two years ago. Her son Salva happened to be playing in the band that was performing that day, and his fellow musicians insisted on Salva speaking to us as his English is very good. Not long after that his mother joined us, and since then she has played an important role in helping us understand Spanish culture and also in saving us from making too many faux pas with our limited Spanish! We have also had many laughs together and enjoyed lots of social activities with Juana María and her family.
Two years later we received an email from Pedro Piqueras, the President of the Ruta del Vino, telling us about their new award for those people who have participated in and supported the Ruta del Vino. We had been nominated for the first award, much to our great surprise and delight.
Enjoying the vinos at Bodegas Alceño
This year we have enjoyed listening to the local symphony orchestra, a talented classical string quartet, a jazz trio, a brass quintet, a flamenco-pop singer, a jazz-mambo band and our favourite flamenco group Al Golpe amongst the many talented acts participating in “Música entre Vinos 2010”.
Pedro had told us the format for the closing event, when we were going to receive our award. There would be a tour of the bodega at 12.00, after which Miriam, the manager of Bodegas Hacienda del Carche, would welcome everybody. Pedro would follow Miriam, saying a few words about this new award and introducing John and me as the first recipients. He then announced that our friend Juana María was going to speak – she had said she would be coming along on the day, but this was news to us! We were expected to say something too, obviously in Spanish. The local councillor for tourism would make the closing speech.
View from Bodegas Hacienda del Carche
We decided to play safe and have our speeches prepared well in advance, checked by Juana María in case of unintentional gaffes! I was a bit nervous, though John seemed calm enough, but on the day all seemed to go well.
This was a great honour for us: two Brits, who have only been living in Jumilla for a few years, receiving an award from a local organisation. It is also a measure of how welcoming the Spanish people are towards anybody who is willing to integrate in their local community.
The presentation of our award
We were delighted with the lovely picture that was presented to us as a memento of our award. It was a water colour painting of one of our favourite monuments, the Arco de San Roque, by a local artist.
After the presentation we were able to relax and enjoy the music played by the Banda Juvenil “Julián Santos”, followed by a very welcome glass of wine (or two) and plenty of tasty snacks.
As soon as we have details of “Música entre Vinos 2011” I will post it on this website, as each year the events get bigger and better.
John and I have lived in Jumilla for nearly two years, and we love showing friends and family around the town. We have been on the excellent guided visits organised by the local Tourist Office, but we know some people can find them a bit daunting as they are all in Spanish, so we came up with the idea of Walkers Tours of Jumilla in English.
If you come on a Walkers Tour of Jumilla, your guides will both speak fluent English, as I am English and John is Scottish (OK, John’s fluent English may be debatable!)
We are also happy to tailor the tour to suit your needs. If you love looking around museums, we can time it to allow you to indulge yourself wandering around the Archeological Museum, the Semana Santa (Holy Week) museum, and the new Museo Jesus Nazareno. With enough notice we can even arrange for you to visit the private wine museum, which is a fascinating experience even if you aren’t a wine lover.
If you prefer gardens and plazas to museums, a walk out to the Botanical Gardens can be included as well as a stroll to see the many lovely gardens and squares around the town.
A popular option at the end of the walk is a visit to one of Jumilla’s many bodegas: after the tour of the bodega you can indulge yourself with wine-tasting and nibbles.
Prices are very reasonable. Depending on the size of your group and what options are included, you can have a guided walk around Jumilla, a visit to the bodega plus wine-tasting for less than 10 euros.
Please contact us through this website if you want to book a tour or for further information.
Comments from Kathy and Tony (San Pedro del Pinatar) after their Walkers Tour of Jumilla:
“John and Sue took us to all the local historic buildings carefully explaining about each point, last of which was the wonderful castle with views of the town and surrounding areas, absolutely breathtaking. These guys were good, their knowledge of the town second to none , and good fun to be with.
Thank you so much Sue and John, for giving us a truly memorable and enjoyable weekend with fantastic hospitality, and a guided tour not to be forgotten, far beyond what we expected and recommended to all.”
STOP PRESS: If you wish to receive our regular newsletter “What’s on in Jumilla”, please send us a message via the Contact page.
