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The sights and sounds of summer carnival time in the Andalucian town of Lanjaron. “La Publica” is a great day out if you are around the Alpujarras towards the end of June.

We can help with accommodation in Lanjaron during the busy fiesta season if you are coming out here.

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The Lanjaron Festival of Water and Ham

Since 1980, Lanjaron has celebrated Midsummer’s Eve in honour of San Juan Bautista (John the Baptist) with its Fiesta del Agua y del Jamon (Water and Ham Festival), although the ham aspect has been overshadowed over the years by the liquid element. At the stroke of midnight on 23 June, the small mountain village erupts into the greatest water fight in Spain, and maybe even the world.

Famous for its mineral water, Lanjaron is the perfect destination for this crazy water war. Locals make sure they park their cars out of town in anticpation of the liquid onslaught that attracts revellers from all over the country and further afield.

At midnight, participants take to the streets armed with buckets, water pistols, and anything else they can get their hands on. Total strangers soak each other to the skin, while ladies spray the crowd with hose pipes from the safety of their balconies, filling up their buckets in the process.

By the time the whistle blows at the end of the fight, there is a river running through the streets, and all are soaked to the bone. After a quick change of clothes, the cerveza starts pouring, fireworks fill the sky and the real party begins. Over the next few days, revellers celebrate the calm after the storm with a feast of mouthwatering jamon (ham), another product for which Lanjaron is renowned.