Cartagena

We have enjoyed our winter in Cartagena. The generally mild weather provided ideal conditions for exploring the historic streets and Roman heritage.

Cartagena is a city full of life, tradition, and celebration. One of the highlights of the season was experiencing the festivals, carnivals, and Easter processions.

For almost two weeks leading up to lent, the city was transformed into a spectacle of colour and music, the historic centre was decorated for Cartagena’s vibrant Carnival celebrations.

On the opening evening, the carnival King and Queen arrived, with their entourage, to start the celebrations.

They led a short parade of mainly drumming bands to the town hall. A stage had been set up for a dance performance by some of the carnival participants, giving us a taste of what’s to come.

We were greeted by the King and Queen who were up on the balcony of the town hall with their associated carnival dignitaries, waving like royalty. They gave speeches to officially open the carnival.

The evening finished with a firework display.

Over the following 12 days, the carnival celebrations continued, everyday the streets were filled with people dressed in elaborate costumes of feathers and sequins, music and dancing. Parades of dance troupes from around the region, danced their way through the cities historic streets. The costumes were spectacular, some of which can weigh dozens of kilograms and are often inspired by fantasy, history or mythology.

Seats were laid out along the streets for spectators to enjoy the parades. It was fascinating to see the creativity and enthusiasm that went into the festivities, which must have taken months to prepare.

After 12 days, the final night was both celebratory and symbolic. Following the final grand parade, which involved 1000’s of participants, it was very much a party atmosphere. There were fairground rides and a marquee for a prize giving ceremony, awards presented for the best costumes, dance groups, and carnival participants.

At almost midnight the carnival finished with the traditional burning of Don Carnal, a giant carnival figure that represents excess, fun, and indulgence, marking the end of the Carnival and the arrival of the more restrained period of Lent.

Of course, a firework display then marked the official close.

As winter turned to spring, Cartagena entered another of its most significant periods: Semana Santa, or Holy Week. In contrast to the lively carnival celebrations, Holy Week revealed a completely different side of the city. The atmosphere was solemn, deeply traditional, and filled with religious devotion. The processions wound through the streets to the slow beat of drums. The hooded penitents looked quite sinister, particularly at night when illuminated by flickering candles. The historical connections back to the Spanish Inquisition were very powerful.

Accompanied by marching bands, elaborately decorated religious floats were carried through the streets, which must have been very heavy as some were carried by over 100 people and they didn’t carry them very far before stopping for a rest.

The processions continued everyday with extreme precision and discipline of the participants, brotherhoods from around the region attended, reflecting centuries of tradition. Entire families participated, whether as spectators or members of the processions. We watched as they very slowly walked through Cartagena’s historic center, into the early hours of the morning. It was unlike anything I had experienced before.

The Holy week processions start and finish at the Church, Iglesia de Santa Maria de Gracia. On the final day, Easter Day, all brotherhoods and floats marched back into the church marking the end of the processions.

It was a very hot day, so afterwards, we went for some refreshments. It seemed that many of the participants had the same idea, having finished their parades, these girls were certainly making the most of the end of lent with several buckets of beers.

We also visited a couple of the local folk festivals held in a shady park. Traditional music and dance performances were interesting to watch. Another family event again highlighting the strong sense of community.

Over the winter there was always something going on including various sports events, parades of horse and carts and locals dressed in traditional dress pushing prams with dolls in.

With a guest on board, we explored a little of the surrounding area. We took the train north along the coast to the Mar Menor and set off on a ten-mile walk to La Manga, following the narrow strip of land that separates the calm waters of the lagoon from the open Mediterranean. Being outside of the summer tourist season, the area was very quiet, many of the cafes were closed and it all looked a little desolate. Work was commencing to tidy up the beaches, I’m sure it gets much busier in the summer. The stagnant water in the lagoon did not look very enticing but we did take a very refreshing dip in the waves of the open sea.

We also went on a trip a short distance west of Cartagena to the Castillitos Battery, designed to protect the bay of Cartagena, forming part of Spain’s major coastal defences. The castle, often called the ‘Game of Thrones castle’ because of its fairy tale appearance, was built in the 1930s.

It housed huge Vickers guns that could defend the approaches to Cartagena’s naval base. It was equipped with two powerful cannons capable of firing a projectile of almost a ton, up to 35 kilometers away. The location on top of the cliff face was chosen as a place with difficult access, it is 250 meters above the sea, with wide visibility. The battery remained in service until 1994.

Standing beside and climbing upon these enormous guns reminded Paul of the Cher video, we tried to reenact the vision!

While in the area, we took advantage of the surrounding countryside, and went on a short hike over the hills outside the city. The trail led to a striking natural rock archway perched on the hill above the coast, with views of the sea stretching out to the horizon. We climbed up on top of the rocks above the arch but it was very narrow and with some big cracks already forming we decided not to go all the way.

Cartagena has many museums, we went to a few but saved some for next time. Being an important naval port, we visited the Naval Museum which covers the history of the Spanish Navy in Cartagena. The exhibits included ship models, navigation instruments, naval artillery, and the history of Spanish submarines. I particularly liked this diving outfit.

Next to the museum is a separate building housing the Peral Submarine, designed by Isaac Peral. Launched in 1888, it is widely regarded as being the world’s first practical electric powered military submarine, with a revolutionary battery powered propulsion and torpedo system.

As the season progressed, we started thinking about our future cruising plans. We had also spent quite a lot of time repairing and upgrading ZigZag over the winter in preparation for the summer, but I’ll leave that for next week.