La Noche de las Hogueras de San Juan

In the morning it rained, which apparently is unprecedented for this part of Spain in the summer, and made newscasters very worried that the hogueras would be too wet to burn. It also prevented us from going to the beach before lunch! That was solved by waiting until the afternoon :) The burning of the hogueras starts at midnight, and the first one to go is the big one in town square. To signal the beginning, three fireworks are exploded in the air. To light the structures, gasoline is poured all over it and fireworks are lit from among its base. It creates a spectacular show that I found terrifying. The hoguera is gone within minutes and then spectators can run to the next one! To make sure we got a good spot behind the fence, my group waited at the pink bird hoguera near my apartment. When it was almost time to start, the firemen (bomberos) were sure to warn us that fire is hot and that water is wet. Resigned to this, we proceeded to loudly chant AGUA until they sprayed us with their hoses. After some effort on the part of los bomberos (the fireworks not being entirely successful) the birds were on fire! To keep the buildings and trees safe and the audience entertained, a copious amount of water is sprayed around the burning figure. I had the most fun I've had in a long time!

 This was my view of a larger hoguera burning. When I wrote about that spectacular show that terrified me, this was it. Fireworks were literally going off just a few dozen yards in front of me and debris definitely hit me in the face.

 This is the before picture of the pink birds about to meet their fiery demise. The blue-shirted people standing near its base are from the 'neighborhood' I currently live in (and where these birds were located), and presumably its sponsors.

 Los bomberos preparing for the fire. Side-note: to fit in the city streets the firetrucks are much smaller and cuter than in America. What you see in the picture is just a van. Another side-note: Spanish law enforcers are more attractive than they are in America, especially the police officers. For whatever reason their pants are quite tight and it works well for them.

These are the birds post-burning! The red fences are the same ones we were told to stay behind earlier.