Teba marks its Scottish link with one of its most epic tales

Teba will host one of its most important cultural events from Friday 25 until Sunday 27 August, a gathering of the clans that commemorates the town's Scottish origins and recalls one of the most epic stories in Teba's history - a legend that goes back 700 years and which pays tribute to the exploits of Sir James Douglas.

The Douglas Days is a three-day festival that highlights the plight of Sir James Douglas, a Scottish nobleman who fought and was killed in the Battle of Teba in 1330 while on his way to the Holy Land with the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce. The gathering's central theme focuses on the heroic deeds of Sir James Douglas, also known as the Black Douglas, who fought under the command of King Alfonso XI in order to take the strategic Estrella castle from the Emir Muhammed IV of Granada.

The event fuses Teba's Andalusian and Scottish cultural and culinary traditions, as well as focusing on sites of historical interest, especially the castle - where the battle took place - and the town centre, where a plaque dedicated to both James Douglas and King Robert the Bruce is located.

The four-day festival, which has been declared a Unique Tourism Event by the Malaga provincial authority, attracts hundreds of visitors, who enjoy a historical reenactment of the battle, guided tours of the castle, and a medieval style market. The weekend also presents performances of Arabic and Celtic music, a Moorish and Scottish tapas route, and workshops in pottery, coin minting and glass blowing, among other activities.

The festival has the collaboration of several organisations, including The Strathleven Artizans, (who travel from Scotland each year to participate), the Saint Andrew's Society of Gibraltar, the Alzar el Vuelo cultural association, the Order of Knights Templar of San Miguel, and The Sur Pipes Band from Benalmádena.

Leslie Thomson, founder of the Sur Pipes Band, who describes the festival as "a pleasure hard to describe", has been performing at the event as a solo piper, as well as with various pipe bands, for more than ten years.

"Spain and Scotland have quite a few historical and cultural links, but Teba is probably the part with the greatest and deepest link with Scotland. My personal link with the town goes well beyond a decade thanks to the huge heart and generosity of its people, who have invited me to participate in the Douglas Days every year since. When the Sur Pipes Band was born a few years ago, it was immediately adopted by Teba, and they have given us the possibility of participating in such a historical event," Thomson told SUR in English.

The festival is organised by Teba town hall, which said, "In medieval times, the Christians, Muslims and Jewish communities lived together, but in Teba we must talk about the contribution by the Scots within this melting pot of cultures. This great connection with part of Scottish history and culture is highlighted during the Douglas Days in Teba."