For a few days in October, Alcala de Henares leaves behind a good part of its daily appearance to symbolically return to the Golden Age. The streets of the historic center are filled with stalls, artisans, period characters, shows and horses in a celebration closely linked to Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote of la Mancha.
The Cervantes Week will return this year from October 8 to 12 and will do so with an important novelty. The Ministry of Industry and Tourism has just recognized the celebration as Festival of International Tourist Interesta distinction that reinforces the projection of one of the main cultural and tourist events in the city.
The festival coincides each year with the commemoration of the baptism of Miguel de Cervantes, which took place in Alcalá de Henares on October 9, 1547. During those days, the city vindicates the figure of the writer and the universe of his best-known work through a program that mixes literature, history and recreation.
Don Quixote de la Mancha returns to the streets of Alcalá de Henares
One of the great protagonists of Cervantes Week is Don Quijote of La Mancha. Cervantes’ work appears at different times in the program and occupies a particularly prominent place with the traditional Popular Reading of Don Quixoteone of the most representative activities of the celebration.
The connection between Alcalá de Henares and Cervantes goes far beyond these acts. During these days, the writer’s hometown uses its historical heritage as a setting to transport the visitor to the time in which the author lived.
The historic center, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, thus becomes the setting for a festival in which literature and historical recreation advance together.
A market inspired by the Golden Age
He Cervantino Market It is one of the great claims of programming. For several days, a good part of the center of Alcalá is transformed with craft stalls, gastronomy, shows and characterized characters.
The proposal seeks to recreate the atmosphere of the Golden age and make the visitor walk through the historic streets of the city within a set inspired by the time of Cervantes.
Cultural activities, theatrical performances, music and proposals related to the writer and his work take place around it. The result turns the historic center into one of the great settings for the celebration.
Horseback jousting, recreation and activities in the streets
Programming is not limited to books. Among the planned activities there also appear horse jousting, historical reenactments and shows that seek to transport the public several centuries ago.
The offer is completed with the Cervantes Gastronomic Days, the Antique and Second-hand Book Fair and other cultural proposals related to Cervantes and the Golden Age.
For five days, the visitor can thus encounter a city completely devoted to the figure of its most universal writer and with a program that combines heritage, literature and leisure.
A party that has just achieved international recognition
Since 2018, Cervantina Week had already had the declaration of Festival of National Tourist Interest. Now it has taken a new step by receiving international recognition from the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
The distinction makes this celebration the second Festival of International Tourist Interest of the Community of Madrid and at number 91 in Spain with this category.
The Ministry has precisely highlighted the uniqueness of a festival that unites literature, heritage and history in a city closely linked to Miguel de Cervantes.
The declaration also represents a greater tourist projection for Alcalá de Henares, which incorporates this celebration into the great Spanish events recognized for their ability to attract visitors and spread a tradition beyond its borders.
When is the Cervantes Week in Alcalá de Henares celebrated?
The 2026 edition will be held from October 8 to 12. During these five days, different points in the historic center will host activities linked to Cervantes, the Cervantino Market and the rest of the cultural proposals.
The city thus once again relies on one of its great cultural symbols to transform its streets. More than four centuries after the publication of Don Quijote of La Manchaits characters and the universe of Cervantes continue to occupy the center of Alcalá de Henares every October.