Battle of the Flowers

The Battle of the Flowers is the starting signal of Cordoba's May festivities. On a Sunday at the turn of April and May, the city's peñas (local social clubs) bring out hand-made floats, with cardboard and paper structures covered in floral motifs that often imitate the monuments and corners of Cordoba.

Riding on them, women and children in flamenco dress throw carnations to the crowd lining the pavements, and the crowd throws them back. When the last float has passed, the road is left covered by a carpet of petals.

It is organised by the Federation of Cordoba Peñas, with the support of the City Council, which includes it every year in its official calendar of popular festivities.

On the Paseo de la Victoria and the central avenues, which are closed to traffic that day and become the parade route. Spectators stand on both sides of the route.

The custom is to find a spot early at street level to catch carnations and throw them back. The floats compete in wit and colour, and many reproduce features of Cordoba's monuments. Flamenco dresses are common among the participants and also among the spectators, who use the morning to welcome the spring.