The festival of Saint Anthony is held in the municipality of Les Coves de Vinromà every year on the second weekend of January. The party starts in the morning, with horsemen and participants host a lunch. The horses then pull the ròssec, olive trees for firewood, along the avenue of Arrabal de València, the village’s main street, to the Plaza España where the bonfire to Saint Anthony is built. It is spectacular to see the horses pull whole olive trees.
The festivities continue through the night with the blessing of the coquetes de Sant Antoni as well as the horses and the domestic animals people take for blessing. The coquetes de Sant Antoni are then handed out along with cups of chocolate with melindros biscuits. The coquetes are the traditional sweet pastries of the festival made from flour, oil, sugar. Subsequently, the queen and ladies of the festival light the bonfire around which the locals gather.
Finally, once the bonfire is extinguished there is a meal of bread at the gate of the Pista de la Ravaleta multipurpose hall followed by a night’s dancing.
