UNESCO inscribes the Wine Horses festival of Caravaca de la Cruz on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The Wine Horses festival of Caravaca de la Cruz (Murcia) now forms part of UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was adopted on Wednesday afternoon at the third session of the 15th Inter-governmental Committee to Safeguard UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, which has been meeting by video-conference since 14 December.

The Wine Horses is a festive equestrian manifestation, which is held each year from 1 to 3 May in the town of Caravaca de la Cruz (Murcia). The central event consists of a horse parade around the town's streets and up to the castle accompanied by four grooms on foot.

The origin of this tradition dates back to the 17th Century and is linked to transporting wine to Caravaca Castle for the ritual of bathing the Vera Cruz in wine. One of the specific features of this festival is the careful enjaezamiento of the horses, dressed in beautiful cloaks specially prepared for the occasion, which include items embroidered with silk, beading and gold and silver thread, made individually for each beast.

17 manifestations of intangible heritage and three good safeguarding practices

Following this inscription, Spain now has 17 cultural manifestations that have been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and three examples included in the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage - an instrument that recognises noteworthy experiences in programmes, projects and activities that safeguard intangible cultural heritage to convey this to other countries.

On 20 November, the Historical Heritage Council also selected a new candidacy - hand bell ringing - for its inclusion as a future inscription on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. More than 30 different forms of this modality of bell-ringing still survive in Spain, an acoustic language that has been kept alive over the centuries as a means of community communication.

Non official translation