 | The night of August 13th Nit de l'Albà, is one of the celebrations that the townspeople of Elche look forward to most eagerly. Hundreds of fireworks light up the sky in a barrage of colour and sound. The fiesta's origins date back to the Middle Ages when families offered a rocket to the Virgin for each of their children. Today the tradition has metamorphosed into a coordinated, organised firework display where hundreds of fireworks are fired from different points of the city. As well as the organised display, the townspeople also join in spontaneously with their own fireworks. The colourful storm of rockets and fireworks begins at 23:00 hours and continues unabated until a few minutes before midnight. Suddenly all the fireworks cease and the city lights are turned off.
The people of Elche remain silent while they listen to "el Gloria", the most significant fragment of the Mystery Play. For a few seconds, the darkness blanketing the city is brilliantly lit up by an enormous white starburst, la palmera de la Virgen, which is released from the Basilica de Santa María. Once the magic moment has passed, the city lights are restored and on the Basilica's tower an image of the Virgin in fireworks bursts into life accompanied by the famous habanera "Aromas ilicitanos" with all of the townspeople joining in the song from their balconies and roofs.
The people of Elche remain silent while they listen to "el Gloria", the most significant fragment of the Mystery Play. For a few seconds, the darkness blanketing the city is brilliantly lit up by an enormous white starburst, la palmera de la Virgen, which is released from the Basilica de Santa María. Once the magic moment has passed, the city lights are restored and on the Basilica's tower an image of the Virgin in fireworks bursts into life accompanied by the famous habanera "Aromas ilicitanos" with all of the townspeople joining in the song from their balconies and roofs. |
|  | Alicante (Spanish language) or Alacant (Valencian) is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 322,673, estimated as of 2007, of the entire urban area, 434,505, ranking as the second-largest Valencian city. Population of the metropolitan area (including Elche and satellite towns) was 734,362 as of 2007 estimates, ranking as the eighth-largest metropolitan area of Spain. Alicante is one of the fastest-growing cities in Spain. The local economy is based upon tourism in the beaches from Costa Blanca coast and particularly the second residence construction boom which started in the 1960s and reinvigorated again by the late 1990s. Services and public administration also play a major role in the city's economy. The construction boom has raised many environmental concerns and both the local autonomous government and city council are under scrutiny by the European Union. The construction soar is the subject of hot debates among politicians and citizens alike. The latest of many public battles concerns the plans of the Port Authority of Alicante to construct an industrial estate on reclaimed land in front of the city's coastal strip, in breach of local, national and European regulations. But unfortunately only 25 Bangladeshee people live in ALICANTE. Report for London based community channel Bangla TV. |
|
 | Anuncio de la campaña publicitaria de Elche como ciudad histórica.
Se trata de un proyecto de carrera en la que este video conforma una parte del trabajo.
No pudiendo hacer mucho más con una cámara de mano y unas pocas fotos, espero que guste~ ^^
-*-
Advertisement of Elche as a historical city.
Part of a college project where this video composes a great part of the work.
Not being able to do much better with a hand camera and a few pictures I still hope you enjoy it~ ^^
-*-
Music: "After the Storm" - Bill Brown |
|  | The Iberian city, where the Dama de Elche was found,became a Roman colony in 27BC with the name of Colonia iulia ilici Augusta and the video shows many artefacts from this period including a beautiful mosaic. |
|