If you haven’t made plans yet for the coming Easter weekend (29 March to 1 April), it might be a good idea to visit Alcalá del Júcar. All that weekend you can walk through a delightful medieval market, with real artisans working at their craft, and also enjoy the wide range of activities and stunning sights that this charming village has to offer. 
Visiting the castle, museums or caves, taking a walk along the river Júcar with its nice sandy beach, riding horseback and climbing mountains are just a few of the many possibilities. Also there are some really nice restaurants with authentic Spanish food, and plenty of B&B’s and hotels – this is the real Spain.
The village is built against a mountain side with a castle on top and at the bottom an historical Roman bridge crossing the river. Next to this bridge you will find the square with authentic craft stalls in medieval style, where a nice selection of artisans will be working and selling their products directly to the public.
There will be crafts people with different specialities such as ceramics, hand painted T-shirts, wooden furniture, puppetry, dolls, toys and also jewelry in silver, glass, macramé and much more.
You can watch a real blacksmith at work, see demonstrations of woodworking, make your own pottery or get an original drawing from a cartoonist as a nice souvenir. The children can enjoy a show with giant soap bubbles, take a ride in the merry-go-round, watch a puppet show, play traditional board games or make their own artwork in one of the workshops. A group of troubadours will walk around and play medieval music, you can find a stilt walker and other medieval characters and to top it all . . . . enjoy a fire show at night.
As in the last five years, the organisation of this market will be in the experienced hands of the craft association ¨Amata, who guarantees that everything on the stalls will have been made by the person at the stall.
This association aims to promote original crafts and art, and through these events offer a place in which the craftsman or woman can sell their work. This also enables you to buy unique products with even the possibility, in some cases, to have the object customised to your preferences.
The market will be open from Thursday 29 March until Sunday 1 April and the opening hours are from 11h until 14h and from 17h until 21h. Alcalá del Júcar is a beautiful village in the province of Albacete. To get there from the coast, follow the A31 (Alicante to Madrid) and turn off at exit 136, marked Alpera; from there follow the signs along the CM3201.
If you wish to see photos of previous years you can visit: http://www.amata.es/Alcala%2017.html, and for more information you can call 639 979 678 (we speak English).
For more information on accommodations or activities such as rafting, mountain climbing, horse riding, kayaking etc. you can call the town’s tourist info, 967 473 090.
