Bonfires, music and age-old traditions for the night of San Juan on the Costa del Sol

The Costa del Sol will be illuminated by blazing bonfires at midnight on Monday 23 June, as thousands of revellers head to the beaches to celebrate Noche de San Juan. This is the perfect occasion to welcome the most anticipated season of the year with bonfires, music and age-old traditions that are celebrated intensely throughout the province of Malaga.

San Juan coincides with the beginning of the summer and the associated pagan rituals, of which fire and water are the main protagonists.

The festivities reach their peak at midnight, when firework displays mark the arrival of the feast of St John the Baptist, celebrated on 24 June. The celebrations generally get going around 10pm and include the tradition of the 'moraga', beach barbecues that most often involve grilling sardines, and the burning of the 'júa', an effigy similar to Guy Fawkes.

The shortest night of the year arrives with special intensity on Malaga's La Malagueta beach and celebrations also take place on the Misericordia, Pedregalejo and El Palo beaches. Other events are held further along the coast in Torre del Mar (Marítimo Levante), and Rincón de la Victoria (Playa El Tajo) and in Nerja.

Towns on the western Costa del Sol also mark the festivity, such as Torremolinos, which celebrates the Moraga de San Juan in Plaza del Remo in Carihuela; although one of the most eagerly awaited firework displays will be found in Benalmádena Costa, on the beach next to the Bil Bil castle. Benalmádena has special reason to celebrate, because this festivity announces the start of the town's annual fair (24 – 29 June), as is the case in Alhaurín de la Torre, which celebrates its summer fair during the same dates.

Other events take place on the Playa San Francisco in Fuengirola; on Playa La Cala de Mijas; in Marbella, where the fun revolves around El Pinillo beach, and on La Rada beach in Estepona.

As in previous years, lighting bonfires by individuals on the beach is prohibited.