Festivals and re-enactments
February
Isabel's wedding
During the month of February, Teruel relives the tragic love story of its Lovers: Diego de Marcilla and Isabel de Segura (1.217). The festival is a beautiful tradition declared a Festivity of National Tourist Interest and is held on the weekend coinciding with the third Friday in February, with many activities and theatrical performances that take place around the story, immersing the city in the middle of the 13th century. The streets and squares are decorated for the occasion and the people of Teruel recreate the society of the time in which Muslims, Jews and Christians coexist.
The popular participation is impressive. There are numerous actors and groups in the town who, with historical documentation, make it possible for visitors who come to our town these days to find themselves immersed in the medieval period. The staging includes street shows, a medieval market, taverns, music, medieval battles, exhibitions, parades, dances, a medieval tournament, a medieval bull, storytelling and an endless number of activities typical of the Middle Ages, faithfully recreated.
The performance begins on Thursday with the Announcement of Diego's death and ends on Sunday with Diego's Funeral and Isabel's death.
Coinciding with the first Sunday in October, the actors of "Las Bodas de Isabel de Segura" perform the "Partida de Diego".
February
Medals of the Lovers of Teruel
The Centro de Iniciativas Turísticas de Teruel, in its traditional custom of highlighting the universal legend of the Lovers, offers a tribute to those interested in commemorating their Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Jubilee, on the occasion of St. Valentine's Day.
HOMAGE TO LOVE
This distinction is awarded to married couples at the time of their Platinum, Golden or Silver Jubilee, and also received by personalities or entities of cultural life that have disseminated the history of the Lovers of Teruel. The official award ceremony takes place in February, the weekend closest to Valentine's Day.
March - April
Easter
Easter Week in the city of Teruel was declared a festival of national tourist interest in 2006.
Its marked religious character is mixed with the manifestations around the bugles, drums and bass drums, acquiring a very special air The success of this tradition is due to the involvement of the whole city through the Junta de Hermandades y Cofradías de la Semana Santa (Holy Week Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods Board).
Between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, there is a succession of religious manifestations, with the Good Friday procession standing out. All the brotherhoods of Teruel take part with thirteen floats and their bands.
On Easter Tuesday, the Sermón de las Tortillas is celebrated, in which the people of Teruel go out to the countryside all day with a good basket of food. Its origins date back to the late Middle Ages.
July
La Vaquilla del Ángel
The Vaquilla del Ángel is the most deeply-rooted traditional festival in the city of Teruel, whose origins are lost in the mists of time. There are plenty of antecedents because in Teruel it has always been normal to run the bulls, but what seems to be clear is that it has its roots in medieval times and that it has been transformed throughout history. Already during the lifetime of the Venerable Francés de Aranda (1356/1441) it was customary to take several bulls to the city prison to be slaughtered by the prisoners and then killed for their consumption. Due to the bravery of the bulls, they were transported tied with two strong ropes to prevent them from running wild. The people in the streets found an emotional incentive in provoking the bulls wherever they passed, protected by the safety of the ropes. When that spread, the people driving them loosened the rope so that they could move forward and scare people. It is possible that this is how the Vaquilla Del Angel was born.
With these antecedents and various periods of prohibition throughout history, we have reached the present day in which The Vaquilla del Ángel is a variable festival and takes place on the second Sunday after San Pedro, or the Sunday closest to San Cristóbal, in July, from Saturday to Monday.
Beginning of the Vaquilla del Ángel
The recitation of the Salve is the official start of the fiesta, although it is not until the early afternoon that it begins popularly. When the clock strikes half past four, the mayor comes out onto the balcony of the Town Hall to proclaim: "Vaquilleros, the Vaquilla is yours, let the bell ring". This refers to a small bell on the roof of the Town Hall, which only rings on this occasion.
The greatest moment of emotion is when they put the handkerchief on the Torico. All the people of Teruel vibrate at that moment of climax. The square explodes with jubilation and the charangas play at full blast, spreading the joy of three intense days of festivities.
The street party
The people of Teruel take to the streets and the peñas start their activities both in their premises (located in different streets and squares of the city and whose entrance is free for all visitors), as well as in the streets with their respective charangas. In the peñas, people eat, drink and dance to the different orchestras in an endless verbena.
Sunday
On Sunday afternoon, all the peñistas and a large number of people from Teruel gather at the Plaza de Toros to meet the four bulls that will run through the streets of Teruel on Monday and to celebrate the traditional afternoon snack. These are fighting bulls that are taken out to see their bravery before being run through the streets. At the end of the exhibition of these bulls, heifers are let loose so that those attending the event can enjoy themselves, both the who jump into the ring as well as those who watch them from the crowded stands. Peñistas, groups of family and friends will taste the delicious "regañao" of ham or sardines along with other delicacies, which will be washed down with plenty of drinks.
It is becoming more and more common for those attending this event to dress up in costume, which adds even more colour, if that is possible, to the festival.
La Vaquilla
During the nights of Saturday and Sunday, the bullring is the venue for the release of heifers belonging to the most famous local and national cattle ranches, and you can also enjoy a bull of fire each night.
On the Monday of the Vaquilla, the protagonist is the bull, as at 5am the first bull is spectacularly brought out into the bullring.
The Ensogados
One by one, the four bulls will run from the bullring to the Ronda, accompanied by hundreds of runners. The bulls in this fiesta do not run loose in the streets, but are tied up by the bulls' horns. ropes that are known as the Soga and the Baga. The bulls are already wearing the rope, knotted at the top of their heads. It is impressive to see the bull come out of the pens with all his strength and to see him charge a straw dummy, at that moment the baga is added, which is another rope that limits the bull's movements even more. There is a group of people who are in charge of carrying out all these tasks, they are the members of the soga and the baga; people who respect and love the bull and who dominate it in order to avoid mishaps to the vaquilleros.
At 11 o'clock in the morning, it will be the little ones, usually accompanied by their grandparents, who will be able to enjoy small bulls in the Plaza del Torico.
From 18:00 h. onwards, the bulls, which were run in the morning, will run through the streets of the town centre.
The end of the party
The festival ends with a big fireworks display, the removal of the scarf from the Torico and the street parties until the night ends when the sun rises on Tuesday.
september - october
Diego's departure
The Department is responsible for to represent the first part of the story of The Lovers of Teruel. Legend has it that following Isabel's request for Diego's hand in marriage is granted a period of 5 years to make the necessary fortune Diego joined the army of the King of Aragon, Pedro II, to fight in the crusades against the Muslims in the lands of Castile (1212).
Among the performances taking place this weekend are the proposal of marriage, declaration of love, granting of the lovers' promise, lovers' farewell, enlistment (open to popular participation), and other activities.
Here they gathered to set out for Castile from a bustling town with the attractions of the Middle Ages.
Between the months of September and October this story is recreated, a prelude to the tragedy of Los Amantes de Teruel.
November
Art Nouveau Week
This interesting recreation recovers characters and customs from Teruel at the beginning of the 20th century. Throughout the week there are various activities related to Modernisme: Cycle of conferences, exhibitions, modernist walks, popular dances of the period, concerts and competitions. During the weekend, the activities and performances take place mainly in the streets, and it is common to meet many personalities who lived in our city.
A tribute to an era in which Teruel lived a special splendour, with the bringing of water, electricity, railways... led by an intellectual elite that gave light to a society that was reluctant to leave its ancestral determinisms.
In the The families belonging to the society of the time can be seen in the market square: the Torán family, Garzarán, Catalán de Ocón, the Counts of Florida, Gisbert, Monguió, Abad, the widow Dolores Romero, the Marquise de Tossos, Leonor Sala de Urzaiz, Mrs. Farrusini, the cousin of Segundo de Chomón and Nicanor Villalta, among other interesting characters.