In the morning
The Moorish host lands on the beach by the Castillo de San Andrés, and the two sides do battle before the whole town.
The tradition
A frontier memory
turned into festival
From Alicante down to Almería, many towns of the Spanish Levante and eastern Andalusia celebrate their Moors and Christians festivals each year: a festive evocation of the centuries of medieval frontier, when these coasts changed hands and memory. Embroidered costumes, filás parading to music and the roar of gunpowder make up the shared language of a tradition that every town interprets in its own way.
Far from dramatising history, the festival turns it into shared memory: Moors and Christians are neighbours who divide up the roles, rehearse together for months and end the day at the same table. On Almería's Levante coast, two seaside villages live it in mid-June: Mojácar and Carboneras.
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villages on Almería's Levante coast celebrate it in June
13 June
the Carboneras re-enactment, every year
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days of festivities in Mojácar (2026 edition)
Mojácar
Parades and gunpowder
in the white village
Perched above the sea, its white houses stacked on the hillside, Mojácar is one of the most photogenic settings on Almería's Levante coast. In mid-June its narrow streets dress up with banners and period costumes: the town hall organises the Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, one of the great dates in the local calendar.
The programme combines parades, music, gunpowder and historical re-enactments that give the village back its frontier memory. The dates move each year around the middle of the month: the 2026 edition runs from 11 to 14 June, according to the town hall's official announcement.
Carboneras
A landing
beneath the castle
In Carboneras the festival bears the full name of its devotion: Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos en honor a San Antonio de Padua, patron saint of the town. The celebrations stretch over several days around the saint's feast, but the central re-enactment always has a fixed date: every 13 June.
On that day the whole town gives itself over to two acts that the Junta de Andalucía's cultural agenda describes as the heart of the festival, with the beach and the Castillo de San Andrés as its stage.
In the afternoon
The Moorish general converts to Christianity and the townspeople venerate the image of San Antonio de Padua, patron of Carboneras.
Practical information
Planning your visit
Mojácar
Mid-June · yearly dates set by the town hall · 2026 edition: 11 to 14 June
Carboneras
Around 13 June, the day of the re-enactment in honour of San Antonio de Padua
Place
Almería's Levante coast · Mojácar old town · beach and Castillo de San Andrés in Carboneras
Programme
Official yearly programmes from the town halls: mojacar.es and the Carboneras town hall
Photographs: Juanjnicolas, INDALOMANIA, Enlasnubesdealmeria · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC0