✦ Festivals
Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante: dates and how to enjoy them from the old town
20 to 24 June, Hogueras; 25 to 29 June, the fireworks. When they are and why it pays to book early.
✦ Festivals
20 to 24 June, Hogueras; 25 to 29 June, the fireworks. When they are and why it pays to book early.
When someone asks us when to come to see Alicante in festival mode, the answer is two sets of dates. From 20 to 24 June, the Hogueras de San Juan. From 25 to 29 June, the firework displays. Ten days in a row, and L’Alcor Old Town is in the middle of almost all of it.
Here’s the essentials: what each event is, where it happens and how far it is from Calle Cienfuegos. The full programme for each year, with every time, is published by the Federació de les Fogueres de Sant Joan at hogueras.es. Have a look before you come.
The Hogueras fall in June, and from May to October the minimum stay at the house is three nights. The old town and the centre fill up early for those dates, so if you already know you’re coming, book well ahead.
A tip for choosing your nights: the cremà is at midnight on the 24th and the fireworks start on the 25th. If you want to see both, you need the nights of the 24th and the 25th.
The plantà. A foguera is a monument made of wood, cardboard and cork, full of figures (the ninots), and it can reach 20 metres. There’s one in every district of the city, and they go up in the street on 19 and 20 June. Over the following days, all you have to do is go for a walk and you’ll keep coming across them.
The mascletà. A huge volley of firecrackers set off to a carefully timed rhythm: you hear it more than you see it, and you hear it in your chest. It’s at 14:00 in Plaza de los Luceros, a 10 to 15-minute walk from the studio. If you want a spot near the front, set off in good time.
The flower offering. Some ten thousand people parade with flowers for the Virgen del Remedio, on 21 and 22 June. It has been held since 1941.
The racó. Around each foguera an enclosure goes up with tables and chairs, where people have lunch and dinner, listen to music and dance. It’s where the street party happens.
The palmera and the cremà. At midnight on 24 June the palmera, a great burst of fireworks, is launched from the top of Santa Bárbara castle. That’s the signal: at that moment the fogueres, the children’s fogueres and the barracas all over Alicante are set alight. While they burn, the fire brigade hoses down the flames and, while they’re at it, anyone who wants to get wet. That’s the banyà.
From 25 to 29 June, at 00:00, the firework displays are set off from Postiguet beach. Tradition says you watch them from the sand. Postiguet is an eight-minute walk from the door, so you can head down after dinner and stroll back afterwards.
If another guide tells you the fireworks are at Cocó beach, it’s out of date. They were set off there until 2025 and are now at Postiguet.
The advantage of staying in the old town during Hogueras is that getting back doesn’t depend on anything: no taxi, no parking, no last tram. You go out to the mascletà, come back, go out for dinner at the racó, head down to the beach at midnight and walk home.
And since every studio has a kitchen, you don’t have to hunt for a table at every meal on the days when tables are hardest to find. The Mercado Central is five minutes away: shop in the morning and eat at home before you go out. If you book directly with us, breakfast on your first day is taken care of, because we provide the pastries.
Everything else around us, from the castle and the beaches to the market and the day trips, is on our Area guide page.
Information checked in September 2026. The dates are the same every year; the times and events for the next edition are in the official programme at hogueras.es.