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Nit de l’Albà

Nit de l’Albà

The Nit de l’Albà is the night of 13 August in Elche: gunpowder all over the city in honour of its patron saint, climaxing with the Palmera de la Virgen.

The Nit de l’Albà is the night of 13 August when Elche fills with gunpowder, light and noise in honour of its patron saint, the Virgin of the Assumption. Rockets go off all over the city for about an hour and the high point is the Palmera de la Virgen (the Virgin’s Palm), launched from the Basilica of Santa María.

What it is

Turespaña presents it as “a show of light, colour and sound in honour of the town’s patron saint”. What sets it apart from a fireworks display is that there is no single firing point: the fireworks go up all over the city. At Elche’s presentation at Fitur, the councillor for Fiestas even called it “the grandest pyrotechnic show in the world”.

Where it comes from

The tradition goes back to the Middle Ages. According to Turespaña, the families of Elche used to offer the Virgin one rocket for each of their children. Multiply that offering across a whole city and you have the night as it is today.

How the night unfolds

  • Gunpowder across the city: rockets and hundreds of palmeras go up all over the city during the night. The figures change every year; Turespaña quotes more than 2,000 kilos of gunpowder and some 70,000 rockets.
  • The blackout: a few minutes before midnight the lights of Elche go out and the Gloria Patri, the closing chant of the Misteri d’Elx (the Mystery Play of Elche), is sung. That moment in the dark is part of the ritual.
  • The Palmera de la Virgen: a palmera shoots up some 300 metres from the top of the tower of the Basilica of Santa María and opens out to about 700 metres in diameter.

Recognition

The Nit de l’Albà has been a Fiesta of Tourist Interest at regional level since 2014 and a Fiesta of National Tourist Interest since November 2021, when the Secretary of State for Tourism signed the declaration at the request of Elche City Council. In 2021, the Amigos de la Nit de l’Albà association was already pointing to the next step: international status.

Not to be confused with other “nits”

The name belongs to Elche, and Elche defends it. In 2021 Valencia City Council used the same name for a Fallas event, and the mayor of Elche announced a legal study to register it as a trademark: “there is one, and as I see it there can only be one”. If you are looking for the one in Elche, always add “Elche” or “Elx” to the name.

Eating on the night

A street fiesta that peaks at midnight dictates when you eat: either you have dinner early, with time to find a spot and watch the palmera, or you eat afterwards. Xepep caters lunches and dinners for local fiestas and committees and works in the Elche area. Tell us your programme and we will help make sure the table does not clash with the gunpowder.

Gunpowder is also the star of the mascletà and the cremà of the Hogueras and the Fallas; in Alicante, the monument that burns is the foguera.

For more vocabulary from the table and the fiesta, explore Traca.

Sources

Nit de l’Albà

Frequently asked questions

What is the Nit de l’Albà?

It is the night of fireworks with which Elche honours its patron saint, the Virgin of the Assumption, in the middle of the August fiestas. For nearly an hour, rockets and palmeras (palm-shaped fireworks) go up from all over the city. A few minutes before midnight the lights go out, the Gloria Patri of the Misteri d’Elx is sung and the Palmera de la Virgen rises from the Basilica of Santa María.

When is the Nit de l’Albà held?

Every 13 August, during the fiestas Elche dedicates to its patron saint, the Virgin of the Assumption. The date never changes. It has been a regional Fiesta of Tourist Interest since 2014 and a Fiesta of National Tourist Interest since 2021, when Elche City Council obtained the declaration from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

What time is the Nit de l’Albà?

At night, and the main moment comes a few minutes before midnight: the city goes dark, the Gloria Patri is sung and the Palmera de la Virgen is fired. The whole show lasts about an hour, according to Turespaña. Elche City Council publishes the exact times every year in the fiesta programme.

Where can you watch the Nit de l’Albà?

From anywhere in Elche, because the gunpowder does not come from a single place: it is fired from all over the city. For the Palmera de la Virgen it helps to have the tower of the Basilica of Santa María in sight, as that is where it is launched. It rises some 300 metres and can be seen from miles away.

How much gunpowder goes up at the Nit de l’Albà?

Gunpowder is the star of the night, and it does not come from a single place: neighbours, shops and associations fire it from all over the city, with more than three hundred sponsored palmeras, according to Alicante Plaza. The finale is the Palmera de la Virgen, which rises some 300 metres and opens out to about 700 in diameter. The exact amounts change every year.

Related terms

Cremà

The cremà is the burning of the Fallas and Hogueras monuments at the end of the fiesta; the plantà is when they are put up in the street.

Festivals

Foguera (hoguera)

The foguera (hoguera) is the ephemeral monument each Alicante district puts up in June and burns on the night of the 24th; the word also means its committee.

Festivals

Mascletà

A mascletà is a daytime display of firecrackers and bangers set off in a rising rhythm, typical of the Fallas and of the Hogueras in Alicante.

Festivals

Traca

A traca is a string of connected firecrackers that explode in succession, used in fiesta pyrotechnics.

Festivals