Traditional Malaga verdiales high up in the Axarquía

Jennie Rhodes

Friday, 21 July 2023, 11:49 | Updated 11:56h.

The Verdiales Festival of Comares is taking place this Saturday, 22 July.

The event starts at 8.30pm with a parade through the village of the five participating groups or ‘pandas’ and at 10pm they are taking to the stage on Plaza Balcón de la Axarquía. After that, each group will be performing in different parts of the village. The five ‘pandas’ participating in this, the twenty-first festival of its kind in the village, are: Paco Maroto’s Primera de Comares, Raíces de Málaga and Arroyo Conca, all of whom are singing Comares-style verdiales. Los Moras are singing Almogía style verdiales and the Panda de Benagalbón are singing Montes-style.

The Mayor of Comares, Eva ‘Aguilar, invited “all the people of Malaga and those who are visiting the province at the moment to enjoy the verdiales in the street and the cuisine offered by our bars and restaurants”.

The traditional Malaga folk music originates from Los Verdiales, an olive-farming area of the province where the verdial olive is grown. Verdiales are believed to be the oldest surviving style of fandango and is recognised as an Asset of Cultural Interest by the Junta de Andalucía.