La Plaza del Ayuntamiento in Alicante
Colourful water fountains illuminate this popular plaza at night
The Plaza del Ayuntamiento is situated in the Barrio de Santa Cruz (the old quarter of the city) on Calle Jorge Juan in the heart of Alicante city, taking its name from the town hall that sits on the edge of the square. The town hall, also known as La Casa Consistorial de Alicante or the Palacio Municipal is the city's main administrative building built in an elegant baroque style and dating back to the 18th Century. The front entrance of the town hall faces the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and the back entrance leads out onto Plaza de la Santísima Faz.
The plaza has a unique feature which draws children and families from amongst local residents as well as tourists, and that is the ‘dancing’ water fountains that are set into the ground in the plaza, in front of the town hall. The fountains are particularly picturesque at night time when the water from the fountains shoot up in bright shades of blue, purple, red and orange due to different lights installed in the ground. It is a joy to watch young children catching the water from the fountains as it shoots up randomly without warning from different holes across the square.
This atmospheric, old fashioned plaza is an ideal place to relax and have a bite to eat, with a number of restaurants, cafés and ice cream shops surrounding the square, and due to its size and central location, the Plaza del Ayuntamiento serves as a venue for open air music concerts, live theatrical performances and medieval markets throughout the year.
It is also an important square for some of the main fiestas and cultural events celebrated in the city of Alicante. For example, in the weeks leading up to Christmas an ice skating rink is installed in the plaza for families and children to enjoy, and on New Years Eve all of the residents of Alicante unite in the square half an hour before midnight to prepare for the final countdown into the new year, following the seconds on the town hall clock that are signalled by loud bell chimes.Traditionally everyone brings twelve grapes with them to the plaza to be eaten in the last twelve seconds before the clock strikes twelve.. After midnight the square is transformed into a giant fiesta as the New Year is celebrated with champagne, fireworks and disco music.
The plaza also serves as a special meeting point for the fiestas of Las Hogueras de San Juan, which are celebrated from the 20th to the 24th June in honour of San Juan. As part of the San Juan festivities, giant colourfully painted papier mâché mannequins are put up all over the city ready to be burned as ‘hogueras’ (bonfires) at different times on consecutive nights, with the official hoguera being placed in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. On the last night of the fiestas everyone gathers around the Plaza del Ayuntamiento to watch the most important bonfire display at midnight, marking the end of the four-day celebrations.
