Early one morning very loud Spanish pop music reverberated through the streets, worming through my bedroom window and irritating my sleepy comfort. The perils of close neighbors, I thought. But it continued and continued, and I wondered how no one could complain of this.


Soon I discovered that this was the beginning of the gigante celebration (maybe a patron saint day). From our kitchen I could look out over the town’s plaza and see the people milling and the giant figures being lined up.




I headed out to immerse myself in this event, where groups from all over the region were setting up the gigantes that represented their town. As you can see in the pictures, these are predominantly royalty, farmers, and miners.

There is dancing, feasting, music, and games – and the gigantes themselves dance.

I got to get underneath one (the man with the scythe) and lift it.
Very heavy, and very top-heavy. Fortunately people were standing by so I did not smash the gigante of Suria into the ground and go down in town history!




Note the twins in this picture. They were on a Spanish reality show where twins competed over a few months to see who were the most alike. They won!



This picture is from around 1895. Potassium salts are mined here.