Alcantarilla
I was born in Murcia, a city in the of South East of Spain and the capital of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, but I live in Alcantarilla.  Alcantarilla is a town 7 km away from Murcia. It has 40,907 inhabitants. It’s always sunny and the minimum temperature during the winter is 10 degrees.
The name is a mixture between Arabic and Spanish. The name is composed by Al-qantara (in Arabic: “the bridge”) plus –illa (in Spanish: “little”), so it means “the little bridge”.

Camino de los Romanos
This is one of the principal streets of the town. It means “the path of the Romans”. It was built over an ancient Roman road.

Rueda de Alcantarilla
“Rueda” means “wheel” in Spanish. Our wheel  was built in the XV century as part of the irrigation system that the Muslims used in the Region of Murcia.
The water from the river Segura is diverted to a canal (“acequia” in Spanish, also an Arabic word) to this wheel. When the water arrives at the wheel, it elevates the water to a higher canal and it is delivered to all the crops in the valley of Murcia. The wheel is moved by the force of the water of the first canal. It has been working 500 years and still moves the water for the cultivation of oranges and lemons in the region.

Fiestas de la Bruja
The Festival of the Witch is the traditional festival of Alcantarilla. It takes place in May.
The festival lasts one week and everything is based on the History of the town.  Alcantarilla was settled by a tribunal of the Inquisition for the region of Murcia (the building in the photo, which is now the municipal library).
On Wednesday this week, we have the Caza de la Bruja (Hunting of the Witch). During the day some little figures of witches are hidden all across the town and clues as to where to find them are prepared. That night the clues are showed in the main square and people go with friends to find the witches. You must be very clever and you must know the city well in order to guess where the witches are hidden.  It is also very fast because people use bicycles and cars in order to be quicker. If you find a witch you will receive honor and money (40-100€ depending on the difficulty level).
On the last day of the festival the Quema de la Bruja” (burning of the witch) happens. A very big statue of a witch made of wood is burnt in the main square and the festival finishes.

Sandra Olivares Gonzalez