Alcalá de Henares was the birthplace of writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, one if not the most important novel in the Spanish speaking world – often considered the first modern novel in Western literature. Thus, a lot of the town activities are presented in relation to Cervantes, one way or another.

Renaissance Fairs are getting popular in the centre of Spain, and Alcalá has dubbed its own “Cervantine Market” Mercado Cervantino as part of a week-long celebration of Cervantes’ christening Semana Cervantina. I missed most of it since I was in Türkiye, but on the last day I was able to drop for a couple of hours with my sibling.

We reached the market around 11:30, too late to hear the cannons. It being a Sunday, everything was packed. We got to see Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho, a horde of orcs, and a falconry exhibition by Francisco Miranda and his Harris’ hawk.

Afterwards, I talked my sibling into dropping by the nearby Archaeology and Palaeontology museum Museo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, MARPA. The exhibition Cazadores de Dragones – Dragon Hunters – is still on, and I was not going to waste the chance to see the Concavenator (Concavenator corcovatus). I realised they had brought some extra merch for the exhibition, and I decided to drop by in the near future.

We went off for a late lunch afterwards, and later I just drove off.