April 24 to May 10 Fiestas of the Holy Cross in Abanilla

The Holy Cross and Moors and Christians take centre stage as Abanilla enjoys a fortnight of fiestas

The small town of Abanilla in eastern Murcia is remarkable for the devotion shown by the locals to the holy relic of the “lignum crucis”, which is believed to be a fragment of the cross on which Jesus is crucified, and every May the local fiestas are held in honour of the “Santísima Cruz” as well as in commemoration of the conflict between moors and Christians which determined the course of local and regional history in the 13^th century.

While the religious element of these fiestas focuses on the reliquary of the lignum crucis, the Santísima Cruz, which is also the patron of Abanilla, there is a second element to these celebrations in which the well-worn topic of " Moors and Christians" surfaces, providing colour and a party atmosphere, the two kábildes and mesnadas (groups of Moors and Christians) celebrating the historical past of their municipality to enjoy a series of social events together.

The program for the 2026 fiestas includes the following: 

Friday April 24

21.00: The official opening speech and the crowning of the Moorish and Christian fiestas Queens at the “Pascual Saurín Cutillas” sports pavilion.

Saturday April 25

12.00: Vermouth aperitif at the fiestas encampment with DJ music.

00.30: Musical evening on the Paseo de la Ermita with Orquesta Cristal.

1.30: The fiestas groups meet in the Plaza de la Constitución to greet revellers and sing “Abanilla en Fiestas”, after which everyone heads to the encampment to enjoy a night of music with The Tracks and DJs.

Sunday April 26

17.00: Children’s fiestas groups march to the Paseo de la Ermita along Plaza de la Lonja, Calle Mayor, Plaza de la Constitución, Calle San José, Avenida Juan Carlos I.

Enactment of the Children’s Moorish and Christian embassies.

Wednesday April 29

17.30: Children’s day at the fairground, two attractions for the price of one.

Thursday April 30

20.30: Enactment of the Embassy in the Plaza de la Constitución, with ballet group Acting Feel. 

23.30: Musical evening on the Paseo de la Ermita with Orquesta Pentagrama (preceded by recorded music).

00.15: The Moors and Christians make their entrance via Plaza de la Lonja, Calle Mayor, Plaza de la Constitución, Calle San José, Avenida Juan Carlos I and Calle Maestro Patrocinio González. 

1.00: DJ music at the encampment.

Friday May 1

12.00: Beer fountain and musical parade by “Los de la Música” in the Plaza de la Purísima. 

18.30: Firecrackers announce the start of the grand parade of “Kábilas” and “Mesnadas”, the Moorish and Christian groups, starting in Avenida Región de Murcia and continuing in Calle Francisco Salzillo, Plaza de la Constitución, Calle Mayor and Plaza de la Lonja.

At the end of the parade the groups welcome visitors to their headquarters.

(The parade can be seen live on the 7RM tv channel)

23.00: Live music from Argentinian singer Germán Marco and Orquesta Flama on Paseo de la Ermita.

Saturday May 2

16.00: Drum parade

17.00: Holy Mass in the church of San José.

17.00: The fiestas dignitaries make their way to the Plaza de la Constitución accopmanied by the Agrupación Musical “Los Veteranos”.

17.30: Entertainment from the traditional musical group “Santísima Cruz” in the Plaza de la Constitución.

18.00: Floral offering to the Santísima Cruz, following a route from the Plaza de la Constitución and accompanied by much of the local population.

Sunday May 3

5.00: An early start as a drum parade takes place in the streets.

6.00: “Diana floreada” wake-up call through the streets with the band Unión Musical Santa Cruz, collecting pages and captains to take them to the church.

7.30: Holy mass in the church of San José.

Following Mass, the Romería to the Ermita de Mahoya takes place at about 8.00 with the Santa Cruz carried in procession, accompanied by the Unión Musical Santa Cruz and hundreds of townspeople. The Romería begins with a noisy musket salute from the arcabuceros (musketeers), around 225 of them, and they continue to fire at fixed points along the route, which makes progress of the procession slow.

This romería covers a distance of only around 2km, but takes over 3 hours due to the number of people who attend, the regular stops, and the process of firing off muskets in honour of the patron en route.

On arrival at the church the Santa Cruz is formally presented to the waiting crowds from beneath a canopy on the side of the church, beneath which hangs a large pomegranate. Following this the captains undertake the flag waving ceremony, which consists of waving the flag half to the right, then half to the left, followed by two complete passes to both the left and the right. This is repeated four times. Following this, a child pulls a cord which opens the pomegranate, from which doves fly out, also releasing a shower of water which bathes the cross. Following this, Mass is held and the townspeople disperse to enjoy family picnics in the park area surrounding the small church.

The cross then returns to Abanilla, stopping off at the Ermita de Santa Ana where the flag waving takes place once again.

23.00: Live music from Orquesta Shadow on the Paseo de la Ermita.

Friday May 8

23.00: Musical evening with Orquesta Kalhima on the Paseo de la Ermita.

23.59: Live music with “Reverse” at the encampment, followed by DJ music.

Saturday May 9

10.00: Drum parade in the streets.

12.00: Mass for the “Capitanes”, after which they parade their flag along with the “Los Veteranos” musical group in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and the Paseo de la Ermita.

20.00: Mass in the church of San José.

23.00: Musical evening with Orquesta “Nuova Vendetta” on the Paseo de la Ermita.

1.30: Fireworks on the Paseo de la Ermita.

Sunday May 10

11.30: After Mass in the church of San José the Holy Cross is taken to the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús for a blessing of the fields.

16.00: Drum parade.

17.30: Mass and a procession, followed by fireworks close to the Plaza de la Constitución, after which the traditional fiestas farewell is proclaimed in the streets until midnight.

Click for more information about the municipality of Abanilla.