In April the city of Alcoy, in Alicante, gets dressed up to celebrate one of the most important festivities of the Region of Valencia: Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians) in honour of Saint George. The festivity is an authentic burst of fantasy, music and colour, which takes as its historical origins the commemoration of the victory of the people of Alcoy over the occupying Moors led by Al-Azraq. History and legend tell that at dawn on the 23th of April 1276 in an attempt to take the fortress of the villa, Saint George appeared on the walls and with his intervention the Christian forces obtained victory, after which he was named Patron Saint of the population. The festivity is organised over three days in April. First is the “Día de las Entradas” (The Day of Entrances): in the morning the "Entrada de los Cristianos" (The Christian Entrance) takes place, a spectacular parade in which almost 5.000 people take part.The second day of the festive trilogy is dedicated to Saint George. In the morning the "Procesión de la Reliquia" (The Procession of the Relic) takes place where the image of the Saint is moved to the church of Santa Maria. In the evening, after the “Diana vespertina del Cavallet ”, the multitudinous "Procesión General" (The General Procession) takes place, to finish there is a spectacular firework display.

The third and last day is the “ Dia del Alardo ” when the battle between both armies takes place in the Plaza de España. One of the highlights is the “ Batalla de Arcabucería ” when approximately 5.000 kilos of gunpowder are let off. At nightfall, the "Aparición" takes place, which marks the end of the festivities: all the lights are switched off and the Sant Jordiet appears on the battlements of the castle mounted on a white horse shooting arrows (its a very talented horse-Ed) , which are gathered by the people and kept as souvenirs.