Day of the Cross. This is organised by the Cofradía of the Santa Vera Cruz church – the ‘Greens’ – and has events for approx 2 weeks. You can view the complete programme here.
Saturday the 1st May is the noisiest and one of the most visible events of the period.
It starts officially at 8.00am (but in reality probably earlier) with a convoy of cars and trucks heading round the southern bypass, blowing their horns and letting off rockets (the type that rise vertically a few hundred feet then go BOOM).
The convoy heads out into the countryside to collect rosemary and they get back to town sometime around or after mid-day – this is not precise – but you will hear them coming back well in advance of seeing them! Last year they were somewhat late, due to the the roadworks on the Mijas road and as the roadworks are ongoing, I expect this year will be little different.
Returning along the southern bypass and down Avenida de la Libertad they arrive at the Cruz de la Misión (Stone Cross) roundabout, where they turn left up Gerald Brenan horns blowing – a lot of vehicles have extra horns fitted – and do a circuit through the old town, scattering rosemary as they go. They do a full circuit back to Cruz de la Misión, then maybe some do a detour up Gerald Brenan towards Málaga, or down Cartama road. While all this is going on, there may be some bloke on the route letting off rocket after rocket – BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
By mid afternoon the rockets and rosemary will have run out and normality returns. A lot of the participants and audience will have retired to a bar. Bar Sanchez on the corner of Calles Fuengirola and Torremolinos is as good a place to find them as any, it may be full of people, all dressed in green! Enjoy the day.
For more information on Saturday 2nd May and Sunday 3rd events, see the programme via the link above, or post a question on Forum Alhaurin and I can fill you in with the highlights.
Do not forget that Monday 3rd May is a holiday, no shops or banks will be open.