A crowd gathered on Thursday night in the municipality of Purchena, to kick off the XXII Edition of the Abén Humeya Moriscos Games.
A parade, traditional dances and stalls of typical food were the setting for this celebration that recalls the roots of a town and the time when it became the world’s sporting capital, under the reign of the Moorish king.
The festival, declared of National Tourist Interest in Andalusia, takes place every two years, so Purchena will be the epicentre of recreational, sporting and cultural activities from 25 to 27 July.
A large group of political representatives and local, regional, provincial and autonomous authorities accompanied the people of Purchena on a very special day that took them back for a few days to the year 1569, when the king of the Moriscos, Abén Humeya, called for a series of sporting and cultural games, popularly known as “The Moriscos Games”.
In the Moriscos Games, the missing link of the Olympics, the most notable events are lifting the “Burxana”, a 68-kilogram marble stone, holding bricks, triple jump, archery and throwing stones.