The Fiesta de las Cruces de Mayo, the Festival of the May Crosses, is one of the most popular events in the Spanish city of Ciudad Real. Every 30th April, the streets of the city are decorated and adorned with the famous May crosses that venerate the entrance of the month of the Virgin and the Flowers. This is a deeply-rooted tradition in the area and it is celebrated in all the villages of the region. Pilgrimages, songs to the Virgin, flowers and a great devotion are all concentrated in the streets of Ciudad Real and the surrounding villages to welcome the month of May.
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is a Spanish municipality, the capital of the province which bears its name, which belongs to the landlocked autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.
The ‘Puerta de Toledo’ gate provides a welcome to this town, renowned for its architectural and religious heritage, where beautiful buildings such as the Gothic church of San Pedro, famous for its Moorish decorations, and the baroque-style cathedral of Santa María del Prado stand out. Also in the city is the Don Quixote Museum, a space devoted to the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes which is mostly set in the area.
The May Crosses
The Festival of the May Crosses, popularly known in Spanish simply as ‘Los Mayos’, is one of the most popular and characteristic celebrations in the province of Ciudad Real. The people of La Mancha get together on the night of 30th April to welcome the month of May, the month of flowers and spring.
This welcome consists of pilgrimages and processions being held through the streets of the municipalities of La Mancha to commemorate the patron saints of each town, with songs and decorations such as the crosses, which are usually mounted in the main squares of each town.
Two municipalities in the province of Ciudad Real stand out for their May Crosses celebrations: Piedrabuena and Villamayor de Calatrava.
In Piedrabuena, guitars and lutes take centre stage on the night of 30th April and the day of 1st May, with music played to Virgin as she goes to the hermitage of the Santísimo Cristo de la Antigua to sing to the patron saint of the municipality in May. The route ends with the pilgrimage of the Sierra de la Cruz.
In Villamayor de Calatrava, the festival of Los Mayos is particularly famous because it has become a festival of Regional Tourist Interest. There, the singing of the Canto de los Mayos to the patron saint of the town is accompanied by instruments and the image of the Virgin. The next day, a pilgrimage takes place that ends with a typical meal that lasts until evening falls and the inhabitants return to the village, where the Virgin is received with fireworks and songs.
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