On Saturday night Vélez-Blanco was left in candlelight and filled with magic and tourists. As many as there can be when the August festivities arrive. This time, the visitors arrived a month early, to enjoy the Noche Blanca, a night of culture and spectacle that made the municipality of Velez shine under the candlelight.
The neighborhood of La Morería , the town’s old town, became the main protagonist of the night. Around half past ten, blackout, already with the candles lit by the steep slopes of the area that was once inhabited by Moors and that today houses a large part of the historical and cultural heritage of Vélez-Blanco.
There, at the foot of the Vélez-Blanco Castle and the Magdalena church, walking through the Caños de la Novia and the Cinco Caños, the candles took over the streets, on both sides of the sidewalks. Also two icons of the municipality such as the Witch and the famous Indalo , symbol of Almería, found in the Los Letreros cave, were represented illuminated with candlelight in different tourist spots in the town such as the La Alameda fountain or the Convent of San Luis, today the headquarters of the School of Music and Dance.
This magical night was accompanied by a batucada from the Afro-Brazilian percussion school , which toured the streets under the direction of Laurianne Girault and Carlos Ontiyuelo. In addition, there was a violin and cello concert with José Morato and Verónica Baeza, as well as an acrobatic dance show with David Aldavero and Silvia Dalla.
“We have been very surprised by the influx of tourists,” said the mayor of Vélez-Blanco, Ana María López . “The older people told us that the same people who come on one of our busiest nights have come, which is the day of the floats, which coincides with the beginning of our patron saint festivities in honor of Santo Cristo de la Yedra, which is when we have more people in our town, so it has been spectacular and wonderful to have so many people with us.
“It was the first time of this activity and in view of the result and how beautiful the town turned out, everyone said that it looked wonderful, a town that is already very beautiful but when it was illuminated at night It turned out to be more spectacular, so it will be a recurring event, we will continue with this initiative again , always in the month of July,” added Ana María López.