Lubrin is about 30 minutes inland west of Vera. We take our Olives there to be pressed in November. The drive there is well worth doing. It can be accessed on a circular route via Bedar a historic ex-mining village and the route has a few good restaurants making it a good "day trip" January sees the...
Fiesta de San Sebastián
Lubrín’s celebration in honour of San Sebastián is one of the Levante’s quirkier events. Every year on 20th January, the town is the scene of a boisterous ‘bun fight’ - the highlight of the three-day day Fiesta del Pan (Bread Fiesta). The peal of the church bells and an explosion of rockets kicks off the no holds barred event following a special midday mass.The crowd roars as the image of San Sebastián, one of the patron saints of Lubrín, emerges from the church adorned with fake bread rolls, and trailed by the town band begins a slow parade through the packed, narrow streets of the town.
Young and old “rosqueros”, sporting red bandanas and bellowing football terrace-like chants, vie to catch “roscos” - large, doughtnut shaped rolls - which “lanzadores” vigorously hurl from the windows and balconies above. The successful catchers then triumphantly thread their snatched trophies onto cords and dangle them around their necks. Once the noisy jostling for the roscos and processions are over, and the ‘necklaces’ have been proudly displayed in the streets, the revellers come together for snacks of bits of bread, tuna, anchovies and cold meats.
In May 2003 the Junta de Andalucía recognised Lubrín’s particular version of the Bread Fiesta with a Tourism Interest classification, the event attracting 8-10,000 intrigued visitors every year. The exact origins of the fiesta in Lubrín are not known for certain, but one version of the story is that centuries ago the area was blighted by cholera, plague, starvation and other natural disasters. The people appealed to San Sebastián for protection and salvation, staging a procession in the saint’s honour through the town. The threat of disease and blight lessened, and the good folk of Lubrín took it as a clear sign that San Sebastián had answered their call for help. In thanks for the saint’s intervention, the most affluent in the town began giving food to the neediest, throwing down their charitable offerings from the upper floors of their houses to make sure they didn’t become infected with disease.
