This fiesta, lost during the civil war and reinstated by the local cofradías in 1981, shows off Frigiliana at its most beautiful in this annual, captivating tribute to the season of flowers, spring.

Admittedly, the Day of the Cross is celebrated at the same time in other villages, and we have no desire to deprecate the efforts of our neighbours, but it is beyond doubt that the streets, squares and hidden corners of Frigiliana provide far and away the most striking setting for this festival.

Because here especially there is no artifice and no distinction drawn between the flowers bedecking the crosses and the other flowers festooning every part of the town, combined with the hospitality derived from the Arab past that is offered to the visitor accompanied by cured meats, slices of cheese, various titbits and sweetmeats, all washed down with the unique wine of this region.

At first light all the neighbourhoods come to life simultaneously. While the most nimble-fingered women embark on the task of carefully placing the individual flower heads onto the frame of the cross, the rest devote the morning to the preparation of the richest and most typical sweetmeats made with molasses of the village with which to tempt the palates of the all who come to view their cross.

As the afternoon draws to a close, the town band, along with a folk dance group and its musicians, and the combined choirs and dancers of the town,set out to visit each and every one of the crosses, paying tribute to the efforts of the constructors, and the beauty of the result.

Finally, all the groups gather in front of the cross outside the parish church, and then the partying begins in the church square and continues well into the small hours of the morning.

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