The fair of Cordoba is celebrated during the last week of May and its origins date back to 1284 when the king Sancho the 4th granted 2 days for Cordoba to celebrate the cattle fair.
In the mid 17th century, two farmers found a religious figure lying in a well, for which they assumed back then that the water of the well could heal. The rumour extended up to the point that they even built a worshipping chapel and celebrated an annual fair known as the fair of the virgin of health.
The fair moved several times until in 1820 it was finally established in the Gardens of Victory, a location that lasted until the end of the 20th century, being in 1994 the final and definite move of the Cordoba fair to the El Arenal fairground, an area situated on the shore of the river Guadalquivir with a lot more space and with the biggest fair entrance gate in Spain that has its own style with features of Cordoba’s caliphate past.
In the fair of Cordoba we’ll find typical fair huts where clubs, associations, political parties or students, amongst other groups, gather together. All the Cordoba fair huts are free to get in and some even have air conditioning which makes the high temperatures of Cordoba that some years bring during the month of May more bearable.
We’ll be able to dance all kind of music, there will be flamenco shows, fun mechanical rides for the kids, fair huts where one can taste thr typical food of Cordoba (Salmorejo, Flamenquin, Ox tail), fast food stands or fair huts that play all the most modern music to dance to and have a few drinks.
The fair of May is nothing else but the end of the popular festivities of the month of May, it has over 200 fair huts and constitutes an event that you simply cannot miss out on.
During this month there are 2 important pilgrimages, the Linares one and Santo Domingo, originally religious celebrations from the conquest of Cordoba in the year 1236. They take place in the foothills of the Cordoba mountain range.
The Crosses of May is an event that originated in 1953 and its aim is to decorate the streets and squares with crosses decorated with carnations. This event is accompanied by the typical gastronomy and music.
From the 8th to the 19th of May, the fair of the patios and balconies takes place, where they decorate the railings and balconies of the private houses, competing for the most beautiful. This festivity has been marked as natural tourist interest and patrimony of humanity by the Unesco.
Cordoba in May offers the Crosses, the Patios, the Fair and a lot more.
Taking the AP7 road from Malaga towards Cordoba, Granada and Seville, we will follow the directions that will indicate us the way to reach Cordoba, that we’ll get to in approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes.
On the map below you can see the marked route on a map:
Credit cards accepted
