The puente at the start of December — Constitution Day on the 6th, the Immaculate Conception on the 8th — is the last long weekend before Christmas, and Spanish towns tend to put something on for it. Mazarrón's is a medieval market that takes over the Plaza Ramón y Cajal, next to the parish centre, and spills into the surrounding streets.
What to expect. Craftspeople working at their stalls, food and drink cooked over fire, birds of prey, and street performers in costume. Recent editions have run from the Friday through to the 8th. It is free to walk into and it is aimed at families.
Practical bit. Dates are confirmed in November — the pattern is the December bank-holiday weekend, but do not book on our word for it. Mazarrón in December is mild, sunny and almost entirely free of visitors; Bolnuevo's wind-eroded sandstone formations are five minutes down the coast and worth the walk in winter light. A hire car is essential — bus service here thins right out off-season.
