“Some 300 kilometers from the sea my neighborhood fights a naval battle / With cannons of buckets and basins in Vallekas we water our dreams”. La Canción belongs to the song Mariners of the dry land of La Verbena Klandestina, and the event to which it refers is none other than the famous Battleship of Vallekas, a refreshing summer festival in which the protagonist is water and for which there is already a celebration date for this 2024.
The joyful battle is framed within the framework of the popular festivities of La Karmela which will be held from Thursday, July 11 to Sunday, July 14.
It will be precisely that last day of festivities, at 16:30h, when neighbors and even people coming from other parts of Madrid take their water guns, buckets and take them to the streets to wet each other for hours.
As usual, this year the will also have its own t-shirt from the hand of the Cofradía Marinera de Vallekas. The design, by @dimasmadrid is dedicated to Rayo Vallecano’s centenary and is accompanied by a message: “Rayo’s stadium stays”. All the information about the T-shirts can be found in the instagram profile of the Vallecan brotherhood.
As for the location, the Battleship will take place in the Recinto Ferial de la calle Payaso Fofó and usually follows the route between the Bulevar de Peña Gorbea to that street.
Parallel to the festivities of La Karmela, Carmen Festivities -organized by the Municipal Board of Puente de Vallecas- will be held from July 6 to 22, 2024.
How was the Battleship of Vallekas born?
Although the association of the Cofradía Marinera de Vallekas was not constituted until the year 2000 (integrating more than 30 organizations and collectives), the festival has roots in the neighborhood dating back to the 80s of the last century.
As the Brotherhood explains in its web page this aquatic confrontation has its roots in a group of young people who, one July 1981, refreshed themselves with the water hydrants of the Boulevard: “From this improvised bathing came the demand for a seaport for Vallekas.”
The summer of 1982 is considered to be the summer of the first Batalla Naval, which was attended by more than 3,000 locals. It has been celebrated since then and throughout its history it has dodged – as if heeding the lyrics of the song that is an anthem of the festival – all kinds of “sudden shipwrecks”, even in times of pandemic: in 2020 it was celebrated from the Balconies.
One thing is clear: there is no place or neighbors in Madrid that stand up for water as Vallecas, its “dry land sailors” and its “country harpooners” do.