Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Can anyone here explain to me the point of the fiesta rockets or 'cohetes' ?

It's not as though it's a pretty firework display - just a random series of loud bangs!

We have a fiesta in a hamlet just down the road from us this weekend and I'm surrounded by my six terrified dogs - one of which is constantly trying to sit on me and my laptop as I type :eek:

I've been to the vet & bought tranquillisers as they were in such a state last year but, so far, they've not taken effect - I just feel so sorry for all the dogs, cats and farm animals out there - to me, it's all so unfair and unnecessary :(

(it's taken me more than half an hour to type this :blink: )

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

I guess that's one of the trade offs of living in Spain. They've been doing it for hundreds of years, I doubt they are going to stop to appease any Brits!;) And why should they? Could be worse, you could be in Valencia during Las Fallas. Personally, I could stand the occasional cohete going off much easier than I could the constant barking dogs in the village where we stay, it's non stop.:frown:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

tranquillisers - think you many have them yourself

it been going on for many of Hundreds of Years , i think its nice and love to see it , yes cat and dog owner

yes we stop bullfight it be the rockets , the bonfire on beaches and so on

Won't somebody please think of the children!

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Try 'swaddling' your dogs.

http://www.thundershirt.com/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...x=thundershirt

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

I'm not saying they they should stop it! - I am genuinely asking what it's all about???

Sorry - don't understand what you're saying here :confused:


Thank you for that - it's certainly something worth giving a try:)

Ps - they're all 'zonked out' now with happy smiles on their faces - and by the way, agoreira, they are all extremely well behaved and our little hamlet is, generally, a 'bark free' zone :thumbsup:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

The most I hear the rockets are when they are used for a procession like El Rocio then people can tell where they are according to the bangs for traffic control etc. They do set them off at other times too. My dog does not bother about them, nor the many firework displays around my. I like firework displays and boy can Spain do them in style.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

OK - I suppose that makes sense - though the hamlet near us that I'm referring to is really tiny and only has about 3 streets in total - so it surely can't be that hard to find the procession!

I was so worried about the one in our local hamlet last year (held in July and a much larger village with more streets) that I gave all the dogs tabs which turned out to be unnecessary - I think they enjoyed it though :lol:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Bangers are used constantly for so many things. Even the pigeon events are started with a rocket. For me it would not be Spain if it did not have the different fireworks for different events. Love the fact that we know when a baby is being christened, a wedding taking place, where each of the children taking communion live and of course falla is such a bevy of noise and excitement. The people live for noise, friendliness and fiestas and that is what makes living here so special.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

and don't forget when Spain (or fave local team) score a goal, Rafa or David win at tennis - they really need little excuse


Spain isn't a place to live if you want peace & quiet, that's for sure!

my dad said the storm woke him up the other night - it was the fireworks at about 3am - then again at 8am

his deafness is obviously selective - no-one else was woken!

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Forgot that. I have been amazed at how much the bangers and religion are so interlinked. As you so rightly said .......any excuse.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

That's true :D

As for thunderstorms, they don't bother my dogs in the slightest, or even when they hear the hunters out shooting - it's just these particular rockets for some reason :confused:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

very odd

our old lady cat who we brought from the UK wasn't in the least bothered by them - but the first cat we rescued here (born here) becomes a quivering wreck - although is getting a bit better - she now only goes under the bed if it's really close by

our second rescue cat sat & watched the mascleta down the street from our balcony!!!

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Just realised that I did not actually answer Lovingthesuns question directly.

Why the rockets? Because the Spanish value life, because noise means people are alive and life means having FUN.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Certainly in fiestas like San Fermin, the first cohete, the "chupinazo" as they call it, signals the start of the festivities. In Pamplona you can see them launch it from a balcony.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Thanks for that :thumbup:

The only thing I can say to that, though, is that there is 'noise' and there is 'noise'! There are so many pleasant noises in life to be had, and one that makes you jump out of your skin, and scares the wildlife to boot, certainly doesn't come into that category.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

We love the noise. Just as well really.They are sometimes so close that the card bits end up on our terraces.

Our oldest cat dosent care about the noise but she is a valencia cat and started life in the city.Our youngest who is from Javea isnt that keen but Im sure she will realise that it isnt going to hurt her.

Ps sorry if Im not using much punctuation but this is a new spanish keyboard and it is really messing me around and keeps changing.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Could be worse if you lived in an Arab country, they fire guns in the air for celebrations:rofl:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

That's BEAUTIFUL :cry_smile:

John.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Slightly off topic but remaining with noise.

I think that we had lived here about a year when I was told that the Ames de Casa group were going to climb the castle and then go for coffee and a bun as part of our events. Dressed in suitable gear I met up with them all and noticed that many were dressed in unsuitable shoes etc but shrugged my shoulders and waited for the off. Myself and 7 others took the lead (should have known at that point but ignorance is bliss). Climbed the hill, started around the castle and looked back to find that no-one was following us. My husband was on our terrace wanting to take photo´s of the 200 strong group going around the castle and was baffled by the lack of us. I waved to him several times and one of the ladies spotted this and asked me who I was waving to, I pointed out my husband and she told me that as I lived in Spain now I had to do this the Spanish way and whoop and shout as well as wave. When we turned another corner of the castle and could see him she got us all shouting, but afterwards looked at me and shook her head. As we came to the last corner where he would be visible she started us all off again and this time I was told that I could stay in Spain because I had proved that I could be as loud as they are. Not sure whether this was really a compliment because I am not a naturally noisy person and tend to keep myself to myself.

When we went for the coffee I asked why others had not walked with us and they all said that there are not many mad women in the town but now I was part of that elite group.

Oh dear!!!!!!!!

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Believe it or not the Brits are starting to catch up with the Spanish. Bonfire night fireworks, which used to be just one night (Nov 5th) seem to take place over a week; and they then blend into Diwali festivities! I'm increasingly seeing firework displays at different times of the year - New Year's Eve, royal weddings, even American 4th of July celebrations. Of course part of this may be just for the capital, but I remember similar events taking place in Oxford. All fine and good, but as mentioned already, it does pose problems for pet owners.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

One of the worries we had moving to Spain was the noise, having been subjected to loud music and barking dogs in GB the thought of high noise pollution when we moved caused some unease.
Living in Eastbourne as we did at least the council there were prepared to combat the problems, the loud music was stopped and the owners of the two constantly howling greyhounds next door moved just leaving us with other numerous barking dogs but at least not too close.
When we arrived here we were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it is, true the barking dogs that Spain is famous for do become aggravating at times paricularly in the middle of the night. In summer the folks along our calle chatting "quietly" until one or two in the morning and the street parties but then all of us are involved so it is not an annoyance and to the Spanish, as we are told, it is life.
I have just remembered one really annoying noise, those 40kph 500Dbel "motorbikes" but even those do not seem to be in evidence as much this year, maybe the crisis.

Graham

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

I have had a lot of fun in my life and it hasn't been noisy. Should imagine setting off a few fireworks doesn't come cheap. If a few noisy fireworks is fun for some people they must be mentally challenged.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Oooooo Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

http://bestsmileys.com/fireworks/3.gif http://bestsmileys.com/fireworks/4.gif

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Deleted as a few fireworks is not worth bringing on the bullies:rolleyes:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

You should live in the USA.

Fireworks almost every night from Cinco de Mayo thru July 4 (and maybe a few days after depending on the day of the week ID falls on).

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

is that all??

I don't set my alarm all summer cos I just know the 'wake up call' fireworks will get me up in time for work!

in fact barely a day goes by all year without fireworks for one thing or another, as The Oddities mentioned earlier - any excuse will do - & they don't really need one

the simple fact that the sun set last night & rose today is often enough:thumbsup:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

............And dont we love it.

:lol::thumbup::blink::eek::thumbsup:

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

To answer the original question:-During the processions the fireworks seem to mark when it's time for the guys underneath the 'float' to take a break... And then to start again. And as someone else already said, It's also a useful point of reference as to how far round the village the procession has got. For those who don't want to do the full walk, or those who just want to watch it pass by from their balconies..

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Apparently Valencia takes great pride in its claim to be the noisiest city in Europe.
During mascleta performances, maximum volume is the only thing that matters.
They begin early morning with a repeat early afternoon just in case anyone tries to sleep during siesta time and once again on an evening.
The success of these performances appears to be gauged solely by the maximum reading on the noise meters.
On top of this they let rip any time day or night throughout the year for any one of a million reasons.
I can easily keep track the football scores by the number of explosions in various properties around me, some being Valencia fans,others Barca or Real.
One of my neighbours always keeps some on hand to chuck at any stray dogs that happen to come anywhere near his property.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

It is an integral and important part of the life in the area. We did not know about it when we moved here and have no problem at all with it but maybe we should all start to think about informing people who ask questions prior to making the move.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

We used to love going out on the balcony to watch the fireworks, and one NYE we went out and almost all the other balconies were occupied with people watching the fireworks, and we had a great time saying Happy New Year, albeit in about 5 languages.. but we all knew what the others meant.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

The actual firework displays are wonderful. We are lucky enough to be able to see several other towns from our terrace so enjoy quite a few displays.

The rockets and other different types of bangers are all significant of different events so when we hear them we like to work out what they are about and which street they are in. What we do find strange is that on Saturday evening we had a minor religious procession which included bangers during it and a small display afterwards in front of the church but yesterday we had a more important procession for the children taking their first communion but there were no bangers or fireworks.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

We had that in the village yesterday - very solemn & dignified with not even the town band to break the silence!

http://i.imgur.com/enx0d.jpg

On the plus side about noise here - I can't remember the last time I heard a police siren or a helicopter hovering overhead on the lookout for villains ;)

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Were the streets decorated, I noticed the panels hanging from the balcony but was wondering what else they do there? Corpus Cristi is celebrated in different ways, according to the traditions of the different towns. We put down greenery and flowers, some other towns do not, there does not seem to be a set thing. For some other festivities we paint the road then paint symbols on top. One year a young man of the street who is a brilliant artist painted a picture of our castle in the corner of the street.

I love the fact that things are different from area to area so am very interested to hear what people experience.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Yes - the streets are decorated, mainly with oleander branches, and large cloths are hung over the balconies. Another thing they do here is open up their large garages to view - they are decorated with lovely flower displays and have altars and religious images placed in them - see my collage below

http://i.imgur.com/oNUGM.jpg

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Thanks for putting the collage on, it gives a great insight into what another place does. Our extra altars for Corpus Christi are erected in the middle of some of the streets not within the houses apart from Easter when there are several in houses and garages for people to go to.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Slightly off topic but what is it with oleander. Its everywhere.I guess cos its hardly and quite pretty but it is also very poisonous.I bought one recently not realising its potency until I looked it up. I took it straight back and swapped it for a passionflower.We will def live in an oleander free zone.Our youngest cat loves eating leaves.She had a lucky escape I reckon.

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

I think it is as simple as the fact that it is hardy and pretty and does not droop in the sun and heat. Nevertheless others may know differently so looking forward to answers to this. I was totally unaware that it is dangerous.

Rosemary

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

Re: Fiesta 'rockets' - why!!!!!!
 

I saw one in the street for the first time this year - was driving by though and couldn't stop to take a photo

Yes, they're nice to look at from a distance - they are lining all the river beds at the moment - but I wouldn't want one in the garden! Also, the branches that they cut down yesterday to line the streets wilted almost straight away and looked sad & scruffy very quickly :(