Fire Parade (Pasacalle del Fuego)

This is the spark that lights the fuse for Sant Joan d'Alacant's bonfire season. On a warm late-May evening, a short procession winds through the streets carrying fire, starting on Calle Cronista Sanchez Buades and heading for the parish church. Expect drums, the smell of smoke and a slow flicker of flame moving past the crowd rather than any big pyrotechnic show. It's a local affair, more neighbours-on-the-pavement than tourist spectacle.

The parade ends at the church for a blessing of St John the Baptist, which gives the whole thing a quiet, ceremonial close. There's nothing to book and nothing to pay. Timings shift from year to year, so it usually falls in late May; turn up early, find a kerb, and let it pass.