12. Christian Soldiers
Onward, Christian soldiers! - and down the road they come, firing their muskets and filling the air with noise and smoke.
This photo was taken on day three of the Alcoy's Moros y Cristianos festival, when the two sides indulge in a ritual parade symbolic of the Christian reconquest of Spain. This is a fairly tedious business. The guns are real, and they make a REAL noise. Anybody arriving in the town on this day would certainly imagine that civil war had broken out again.
The participants wear ear-plugs and yet still walk around with a dazed expression on their faces. They don't appear to gain much pleasure from the experience.
You will notice that there are no women involved in this undertaking; in fact, nobody at all is watching the procession; the natives have all retreated to the shelter of their homes, and the tourists have fled. A strange business, indeed.