A magical night in which fantasy, spectacle and the distribution of illusion went hand in hand to delight hundreds of thousands of people who did not want to miss this Saturday the great parade of the Burial of the Sardine, a festival declared of Tourist Interest International with more than 170 years of history.
The temperature was favorable, the streets were packed with people decorated with luminous objects and the sardine groups put the icing on the cake of the Spring Festival in which neighbors and visitors have filled the streets of Murcia in each of the organized parades, demonstrating once again the unbreakable bond that the capital of Segura has with the celebration of the arrival of the flower season, which permeates the city with the smell of orange blossom and fills every corner with joy.
The mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, gave a very positive assessment. “They have been festivities with great participation and influx in all the events and parades,” highlighted the first mayor, who highlighted that “the sardineros are generous, dedicated and altruistic people, characteristics that represent the personality of the people of Murcia.” To which Diego Avilés, Councilor for Culture and Identity, added that “today we put the final culmination with the biggest party in Murcia, where you can breathe great atmospheric happiness.”
The parade, which left San Juan de la Cruz Avenue and did not begin to travel along Gran Vía until after 10 p.m., was opened by agents of the National Police, some of them on horseback. His presence at the start of the procession was a nod from the Sardinera Group to the celebration of the bicentennial of the formation of the body, which received much applause from the public in gratitude for its work to guarantee the safety of citizens on days like this Saturday. , in which the center of Murcia was a hive of people wanting to celebrate.
'And long live Spain' with bagpipes
The show began with the Portuguese bagpipe band 'Sao Tiago de Cardielos', a formation made up of seventy musicians from Galicia and Portugal who won over the audience with the pasodoble 'Y viva España', a hit by Manolo Escobar that does not go beyond fashion. Behind the bagpipers appeared the flags of the sardine groups and of all the municipalities from which the sardine has arrived, to which this year Santomera has been added as a place of origin.
The party's mascot followed, escorted by his hachoneros. A very popular and loved fish that has not only won the affection of the little ones, since everyone wanted to take a selfie with it. The famous Disney characters and the Drilo Patrol also excited the children. Next, it was the adults who returned to their childhood with the performance of Los Gabytos, a group led by the son of the famous TV clown Gaby Aragón.
Behind them appeared Campanilla, an acrobat who flew over the Gran Vía with an elegance and serenity in the heights that left everyone with their mouths open. Some witches from Alicante who arrived on giant flying brooms also made amazing movements.
Mobile festivals
The carnival touch was not lacking, with troupes such as Fantasía de Águilas and La Sal de Torrevieja, who attracted attention with their choreographies and outfits. In the case of the Torrevieja group, their dancers wore colorful feather back protectors with which they filled the parade with rhythm.
The artistic attractions followed one another in a procession in which there was a variety of shows, among which the music groups that performed live uploaded on different platforms, in the purest mobile festival style, attracted a lot of attention. In addition to the Benidorm and Vela orchestras, the Murcian singer Diego Martín, named Perráneo of the Year by the Federation of Peñas Huertanas, was the protagonist, who performed versions of Bizarrap and Shakira and aroused passions among the attendees. The staging of the dance schools of Paloma Gambín, Carmen Romero and Víctor Campos did not disappoint the public either.
The expectation was maximum when the traditional Conte Dragon passed by, which has already become a classic of the Burial of the Sardine parade. Element to which this year was added an impressive eight-meter-high articulated gorilla that has broken size records.
After the gigantic gorilla, the floats of the 23 sardine groups led by Centauro began to pass. It was the moment when the euphoria began and the sardineros began to launch more than 2.5 million toys that filled adults and children with excitement. As a sardinero guest, the presence of Molina de Segura basketball player Izan Almansa, an NBA player who distributed gifts with the Ulises group, stood out. A procession in which some 2,000 people participated and which was the prelude to the burning of the catafalque. A waste of fantasy and spectacle to once again demonstrate that Murcia cannot be understood without its Burial of the Sardine.
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