Annual fiestas in Molina de Segura

The main fiestas in Molina are in honour of the Virgen de la Consolacion in September

As in every municipality in the Region of Murcia there is a week every year in Molina de Segura when the children take a couple of days off school, local businesses reduce their activity and the population takes to the streets to enjoy a celebration of their town and its traditions.

In Molina, these fiestas are dedicated to the Virgen de la Consolación, who has been venerated in Molina since the 14^th or 15^th century, and are held in September, rounding off the summer after many residents return from holidays at the beach or elsewhere. The festivities begin with a traditional “Romería”, in which the figure of the Patron is taken from the church which bears her name to the main parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, on the first Saturday of the month. This Romería is known to date back at least as far as the 18^th century.

The fiestas also include a procession from the square outside the Town Hall which culminates in a floral offering at the Iglesia de la Asunción, and on the third Monday of the month the Virgen de la Consolación is returned to “her” church in another Romería.

These religious events are accompanied every year by a wide and varied cultural offering, including float parades, exhibitions, the folklore festival, fireworks and numerous concerts.

As is the case almost throughout Spain, the Semana Santa (or Easter Week) celebrations are also a hugely important event in the annual calendar of Molina de Segura, although this has not always been the case.

In fact, between 1964 and 1986 there were no Semana Santa processions in Molina, but since then the tradition has been revived. There are now various processions, all of them well attended, beginning on Viernes de Dolores (the Friday before Good Friday) and continuing with others on the following Saturday and Palm Sunday, when the procession representing the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem starts at the church of San Vicente.

On Easter Wednesday there is a very unusual Vía Crucis event in the outlying district of Torrealta. This tradition began in the 1980s, during the hiatus in the main events in Molina, when José Moreno, the parish priest of Torrealta, began to organize a living representation in the streets of the town of the Via Crucis.

When the priest left the village and the tradition he started died out, many locals missed it, but in 1997 they gained the support of the former priest and in collaboration with the Town Hall of Molina reinstated it the following year. The event has now grown to very large proportions, and is extremely popular not only among those who live in Torrealta but also in the town of Molina de Segura and throughout central Murcia.

On Maundy Thursday the schedule resumes in Molina itself with a procession in reverential silence starting at the church of San Roque, and on Good Friday the Santo Entierro procession takes place.

Easter Sunday itself features a morning procession glorifying the Resurrection of Christ, starting at the modern Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón in the north of the town.

Easter doesn’t quite end there for the locals of Molina, though, as on the following Monday and Tuesday it is traditional to venture out into the countryside to enjoy a picnic featuring the “Mona de Pascua”, a bun containing an entire hard-boiled egg.

Other annual celebrations include those of 17th January to commemorate the Feast Day of San Antón, when it was a tradition in the past for locals to spend the day in the rural area of Las Salinas. Here they would dip oranges into the water, a ritual which was supposed to bring good luck.

In addition, there is a blessing of animals every year on or around the 17th January in the Plaza de la Iglesia de San Vicente Mártir, as San Antón (also known as San Antonio Abad) is the patron saint of animals.

This is followed just five days later by the Feast Day of San Vicente Martir, another patron of Molina, and since a church was dedicated to the saint this date has regained some of the importance it had in the past. The religious devotion to this Saint, who is venerated as the first Christian martyr in Spain, is known to date back to at least 1325 in the town, and was probably brought by Christian forces from Valencia following the Reconquista in Murcia in 1243.

Finally, of course, Christmas does not pass unnoticed in Molina, and there is a series of concerts and children’s activities as well as a municipal nativity scene and Santa’s grotto. The Christmas holidays end with the Parade of the Three Kings through the main streets of the town during the afternoon of 5^th January.

Fiestas in outlying districts:

Fenazar, La Albarda, La Espada, Comala and La Hurona: August, to coincide with the Feast Day of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles.

Ribera de Molina: June (Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) and the last Sunday of April

Llano de Molina: September (Purísima Concepción)

Torrealta: September (Nuestra Señora de los Remedios)

Los Valientes: August (Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes)

El Rellano, Los Conejos: July (Virgen del Carmen)

Campotéjar Alta: August (María Auxiliadora)

La Hornera, Altorreal: June (San Juan)

La Alcayna: June (San Pedro)

El Romeral: August (Virgen del Romeral)

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