Fiesta de la Cruz in Murtas 1 to 4 May 2010

Murtas is a pretty village in the Sierra de Contraviesa that celebrates la Fiesta de la Cruz. The festivities in honor of the patroness la Santa Cruz begin with ´novenas´ in her honor a few days before, but it is on 2nd of May when the silver cross is taken in procession from the hermitage that bears her name, to the parish church, where she is adored until the 4th of May, the day that she returns to the Ermita de la Santa Cruz.
Monday the 3rd of May there will be a holy mass at 12.30 hours after which the Santa Cruz surrounded by flowers is carried out of the church accompanied by the image of the patron saint San Miguel. They are carried trough the village for the ´estación´, the circular route that is done each year. The murteños experience their fiesta with a lot of devotion and emotion and it is much anticipated by many people throughout the year. During the procesion music of the band can be heard and the noise of hundreds of rockets that are fired. Some of these firecrackers and rockets are traditional vows, usually offered by people who make a request to the Santa Cruz, especially health-related issues and other demands, or out of gratefulness to the patroness. Apart from the mass and the procession, there will be various competitions, verbenas, coplas and migas.