Kingdom of Navarre. Land of diversity

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Spring

Nature shakes off the winter and the spring wakens up the senses. Navarre is covered in green, the leaves come out on the beech and oak trees, the meadows are a patchwork of lively colours, and flowers decorate the facades of the farmhouses. With the thaw, the rivers that flow down from the Pyrenees recover their strength and later meander down through the Central Zone to La Ribera. The animals of the forest emerge, everything smells of grass, and the season's vegetables sprout. Spring can be felt with the five senses.

The milder weather invites you to go trekking: to enjoy the Pyrenees, mountain ranges such as Aralar or Andía, or old railway lines that are now cycle paths. Spring is the ideal time to visit the arid and desert-like Bardenas Reales. Fishing enthusiasts will find the river Bidasoa the ideal place to capture Atlantic Salmon.

The 'green thaw' also wakes up the region's traditions. At Easter Corella plays host to a striking and Baroque procession, the Santo Entierro (holy burial), and Tudela celebrates the Volatín and the Bajada del Ángel. Other religious events include popular pilgrimages in Ujué, el Yugo, Roncesvalles, Labiano and Codés. In the Basilica of San Gregorio Ostiense the reliquaries of the saint are revered, asking for protection for the fields and crops. The nearby Sanctuario (church) of Codés also attracts many devotees from villages in the surrounding area during the month of May.

At the beginning of the same month, Burgui is host to the Día de la Almadía (Day of the Raft), a festivity declared of National Tourist Interest. It commemorates the ancient tradition (and work) of moving tree trunks down river on rafts called almadías made from the tree trunks themselves. The Spring festivities end on the night of San Juan (St John) with bonfires and festivities in almost all the towns and villages of Navarre. In Torralba del Río the capture of Juan Lobo, a legendary medieval bandit, is dramatised, and the cofrades (members of the guild) of San Juan interpret the Baile de la Balsa (Dance of the Pool).

In the caves at Zugarramurdi, on the Saturday night closest to San Juan, the Akelarre is celebrated. It is a fiesta where witches dance to the rhythm of the txalaparta (a kind of wooden xylophone) until the zanpantzar appear, ringing their cowbells to scare the witches off.

At the table, it is a time of menestra, salmon, artichokes and asparagus, some of the most representative dishes in the gastronomy of Navarre. Tudela, well-known (like all La Ribera) for the exquisite products from its market gardens, celebrates the Jornadas de la Exaltación de la Verdura (Days to extol the virtues of vegetables) in May with gastronomic competitions and tasting sessions, among other activities.