It's the night of June 24th to 25th... THE night of the Hogueras! The one we've all been waiting for! When a year's planning, preparing, designing, building and admiring all just go up in flames and smoke! Tears are versed, explosions are heard all across town... and people's favourite Hoguera activity gets unleashed: insulting firemen!
What's that you say? Insulting firemen?!?! But the poor fellahs have it hard enough controlling those flames, staying up all night, not being able to party themselves! And the crowds milling around are inventing insult after insult and throwing it at them?! People will do anything to cool down in this heat... and the firemen are glad to respond, they are after all armed with those powerful hoses! ;o) so... AAAGUAAA!!!
Hehehe! Crazyest night of the year I'd say!
Here's a peek at how things start out. To guarantee a successful Crem� the "artificieros" (fireworks etc. experts) spent the afternoon and early evening wiring the Hogueras, filling them with firecrackers, fireworks, connecting different parts of the monument with fuses, dowsing it all (at the last minute) with gasoline... When that fuse is lit, everything must happen quickly! And if done properly NOTHING should be left intact.
This video is of the Hoguera Explanada:
How 'bout a closer view of the wiring of the Hoguera Pza Ruperto Chap� (next to the Teatro Principal)?
So my sister and I decided to take her friends (visiting from London) to see one of the biggies (more impressive), the Hoguera Hern�n Cort�s (the chess game!).
Somehow (por la cara dura de my hermanita!) we got damn lucky and ended up in one of the areas "reserved" for the members of the Hoguera... front row seats people! You can't get any closer than this!!! :o) Well, physically you could... but the firemen pushed us back saying we'd literally roast otherwise! lol!
Sharp at midnight, the witching hour, a single "palmera" (firework in shape of a palm tree) is launched from the Castle, signalling the beginning of the Crem�. First off will be the Hoguera Official at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Shortly thereafter, all over town, the rest of the Hogueras start their show. The firemen start by hosing down the monument, neighbouring buildings, etc. to help keep things under control later. 10 Hogueras were burnt simultaneously in the centre of town, and once they'd finished with those the firemen moved on out to other Hogueras to get those done (can't be burnt without presence of firemen). The Grand Prize Winner - La Florida Portazgo - was cremated at 01h30. It was all over by 4am and the next day there were very few traces of the evening's events (other than scorched ground and dangling decorative lights.
The Crem� always starts with the Hoguera Infantil. The Belleza Infantil lights the fuse and watches (teary-eyed) her monument go up in smoke.
When it's done, all eyes are glued to the Bellea del Foc waiting for her to light the fuse that will bring chaos to order in a blazing furnace before us all...
Brings to mind that old childhood ditty...
I've never been that close to a Crem� before, and let me say it was INTENSE! And the HEAT! A�e, a�e, a�e!!!
As you could hear (sorry for poor quality of sound), it didn't take long for the cries of "aaaaaaaguaaaaaa! aaaaaaaguaaaaaaa!" to be heard over the roar of the flames, and for the taunts and insults to try to catch the firemen's attention in the hopes of some desperate relief from the furnace... Being soaking wet never felt so good! ;o)
We wandered around a bit more to see if we could witness another burning, but the big ones take longer than the smaller ones so all the neighbouring Hogueras were pretty much done when we walked by... just meant we got to witness the beginning of the clean-up crew! :p
Here's all that's left of the Hoguera Mercado Central:
It still amazes me when I stop to think about it... all that imagination, money, hard work... on display for a few days and then burnt to ashes in a matter of hours! But for the people involved it's all worth it, and believe me they're already planning for next year! :o)
What's that you say? Insulting firemen?!?! But the poor fellahs have it hard enough controlling those flames, staying up all night, not being able to party themselves! And the crowds milling around are inventing insult after insult and throwing it at them?! People will do anything to cool down in this heat... and the firemen are glad to respond, they are after all armed with those powerful hoses! ;o) so... AAAGUAAA!!!
Hehehe! Crazyest night of the year I'd say!
Here's a peek at how things start out. To guarantee a successful Crem� the "artificieros" (fireworks etc. experts) spent the afternoon and early evening wiring the Hogueras, filling them with firecrackers, fireworks, connecting different parts of the monument with fuses, dowsing it all (at the last minute) with gasoline... When that fuse is lit, everything must happen quickly! And if done properly NOTHING should be left intact.
This video is of the Hoguera Explanada:
How 'bout a closer view of the wiring of the Hoguera Pza Ruperto Chap� (next to the Teatro Principal)?
So my sister and I decided to take her friends (visiting from London) to see one of the biggies (more impressive), the Hoguera Hern�n Cort�s (the chess game!).
Somehow (por la cara dura de my hermanita!) we got damn lucky and ended up in one of the areas "reserved" for the members of the Hoguera... front row seats people! You can't get any closer than this!!! :o) Well, physically you could... but the firemen pushed us back saying we'd literally roast otherwise! lol!
Sharp at midnight, the witching hour, a single "palmera" (firework in shape of a palm tree) is launched from the Castle, signalling the beginning of the Crem�. First off will be the Hoguera Official at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Shortly thereafter, all over town, the rest of the Hogueras start their show. The firemen start by hosing down the monument, neighbouring buildings, etc. to help keep things under control later. 10 Hogueras were burnt simultaneously in the centre of town, and once they'd finished with those the firemen moved on out to other Hogueras to get those done (can't be burnt without presence of firemen). The Grand Prize Winner - La Florida Portazgo - was cremated at 01h30. It was all over by 4am and the next day there were very few traces of the evening's events (other than scorched ground and dangling decorative lights.
The Crem� always starts with the Hoguera Infantil. The Belleza Infantil lights the fuse and watches (teary-eyed) her monument go up in smoke.
When it's done, all eyes are glued to the Bellea del Foc waiting for her to light the fuse that will bring chaos to order in a blazing furnace before us all...
Brings to mind that old childhood ditty...
"ashes, ashes, it all falls down!"
I've never been that close to a Crem� before, and let me say it was INTENSE! And the HEAT! A�e, a�e, a�e!!!
As you could hear (sorry for poor quality of sound), it didn't take long for the cries of "aaaaaaaguaaaaaa! aaaaaaaguaaaaaaa!" to be heard over the roar of the flames, and for the taunts and insults to try to catch the firemen's attention in the hopes of some desperate relief from the furnace... Being soaking wet never felt so good! ;o)
We wandered around a bit more to see if we could witness another burning, but the big ones take longer than the smaller ones so all the neighbouring Hogueras were pretty much done when we walked by... just meant we got to witness the beginning of the clean-up crew! :p
Here's all that's left of the Hoguera Mercado Central:
It still amazes me when I stop to think about it... all that imagination, money, hard work... on display for a few days and then burnt to ashes in a matter of hours! But for the people involved it's all worth it, and believe me they're already planning for next year! :o)
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