As Spain campaigns for traditional Jota music and floral carpets to be included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2026, here are some other Spanish customs and festivals that have already made the list.
According to UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage includes traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors. It’s festivals, performing arts, oral traditions, rituals and crafts.
Spain has a total of 26 items inscribed on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, here are some of the best and most interesting.
Asturian cider culture
Asturian cider culture was inscribed onto the list in 2024. According to UNESCO, “Asturian cider culture refers to the spaces and processes for producing, serving and enjoying natural cider in the Spanish region of Asturias”. It’s not only the Asturian tart cloudy cider itself, but the landscape of apple orchards, the cultivation of it and the traditional Cider bars called chigres. As the title suggests, there’s a whole culture around Asturian cider, from the way it’s poured – from a great height into a very thin glass, and the way it’s drunk – in small one-gulp shots.
Taste your way around Oviedo: Spain’s Capital of Gastronomy 2024
Sidra from Asturias. Photo: MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP
Los Caballos del Vino festival
Los Caballos del Vino or Wine Horses festival was inscribed onto the list in 2020 and takes place in Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia from May 1st – 3rd. The horse is the star of the show in this celebration, which involves a series of parades where these beautiful beasts are dressed in richly embroidered cloaks of silk and gold thread.
Advertisement
Tamborada drum-playing rituals
Inscribed on the list in 2018, the tamborradas are part of the Catholic Holy Week celebrations across many parts of Spain. Another example is the Tamborrada festival in San Sebastián held every January 20th. The main part of the festival consists of a 24-hour drum parade which begins at midnight on January 19th and continues right through until the next day. Residents of San Sebastián dress up as either soldiers or chefs. The reason behind this dates back to the Napoleonic Wars, when French soldiers invaded the city – banging their drums as the local population went about their daily chores. In response, the people became angry and so made fun of the French by making their own drums and banging pots and pans. The first drumming parade took place in 1836 during a celebration of the city’s patron saint.
A Tamborrada procession, on Plaza Mayor in Madrid for Easter. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Valencia’s Las Fallas
Las Fallas is Valencia’s biggest festival of the year and has been on UNESCO’s list since 2016. There are many elements to this celebration of Valencian culture, but the most important are the fallas themselves. These are huge papier-mâché sculptures of fairytale or folkloric scenes or even local politicians, famous figures and satirical elements. It takes place throughout most of the first half of March, but the most significant days are March 15th – 19th. Essentially it’s a festival of fire, which features daily firework displays, ear-splitting fire crackers and fiery parades which all culminate in the burning of the fallas on the night of the 19th.
READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about Valencia’s Las Fallas Festival
Fallas are burnt on the last night of the Fallas Festival in Valencia, on March 19th. Photo: JOSE JORDAN / AFP
Advertisement
Fiesta de Patios, Córdoba
The Andalusian city of Córdoba celebrates its stunning inner courtyards during one of Spain’s most beautiful festivals. Held each year in May, the event highlights the city’s hidden courtyards, which are not usually opened to the public. Residents take painstaking care to decorate these patios with flowers, plants and artistic pieces, creating elegant organic displays.
READ ALSO: Why you should go to Córdoba’s mesmerising Patios Festival
A man takes a photo of a couple during the traditional Patio Festival (Fiesta de los Patios) in Córdoba. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO / AFP
Chant of Sybil, Mallorca
The chant of the Sybil is performed at services on the night of Christmas Eve in churches throughout the Balearic Island of Mallorca. It’s typically sung by a boy or girl holding a sword and accompanied by other alter boys and girls from the choir. The costumes are also an important part of the ritual which include white tunics and embroidery. The roots of this Mallorcan tradition can be found in Gregorian chants.
Flamenco
Flamenco – its dancers, its musicians, its beats have almost become a symbol of Spain, even though it’s Andalusia where this artistic expression was born and where it’s still important today. It also has roots in regions such as Murcia and Extremadura. Some of the places most intwined with flamenco culture and the best places to catch a show are Seville, Granda, Jerez de la Frontera and Cádiz.
READ ALSO: ¡Olé! Five things you didn’t know about Spain’s flamenco art form
Traditional trajes de flamenco in Jerez. Photo: Esme Fox
Castellers
Catalonia’s castellers or human towers are an integral part of Catalan culture and its many festivities. More than just a display, however, it’s an acrobatic sport where local teams work together to carefully balance on top of one another creating a human tower. Teams even compete against one another to build the tallest tower. This cultural practice can be seen all over the region of Catalonia, typically at local festivals.
Members of the “Castellers de Barcelona” human tower team form a “castell”. Photo: LLUIS GENE / AFP
Water Tribunals
Water tribunals are traditional law courts for water management that date back to the al-Andalus period between the 9th and 13th centuries, some of which are still held today. The first is the Council of Wise Men of the Plain of Murcia and the second is the Water Tribunal of the Plain of Valencia. The members are farmers and are democratically by other farmers who use the local irrigation systems and make decisions on its uses as well as solving disputes.
Whistle language of La Gomera
On the tiny Canary Island of La Gomera sharp whistles can be heard echoing across the mountains. Locals are not in fact calling sheep dogs, but are talking to one another in the whistled Silbo Gomero language. Handed down over centuries through the generations, it is only whistled language in the world and is spoken by around 22,000 people. In a bid to preserve it, this unique language has been taught in schools since 1999.
