Each year over the decades literally thousands of young (and not so young) people turned up in Órgiva for a macro, open-air fiesta to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

The festival was called La Fiesta del Dragón which was the focal point for old, large vans turned into travelling homes and backpackers with tents from all over Spain and sometimes further away.

Some called them hippies, other new-age travellers and still others, young people doing their own thing, as each generation had done before it.

But the event was not expected with so much joy by the people of Órgiva, and much less the Town Hall; 20,000 people turned up in 2008 and reportedly left the place looking like Atillah the Hun on steroids had paid a passing visit.

Finally, the Town got its way and the festival was banned there, only to pop back up in the Termas de Santa Fe in 2010. It became a hit with the participants and everybody was happy… well, except for the locals there, that is.

No matter that the new site was about four kilometres from the town; the noise of people enjoying themselves was from late morning until late into the early hours of the next day.

The years up until 2019 rolled by and then came the pandemic last year, which put paid to the fiestas. This year the BBVA, who owned the land, sold it to a vulture fund, who fenced in their new property and hired a security guard to keep people out.

So, the big question is, will there be a Fiesta del Dragón in Santa Fe or anywhere else in the province come Spring 2022?

(News: Orgiva, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)