Contact Lorca Tourist Office on +34 968 441 914
or to send an Email
Click HereContact Lorca Tourist Office on +34 968 441 914
or to send an Email
Click HereTo contact Lorca Tourist office please use the secure enquiry form provided below.
Between 6th and 8th December Lorca castle is hosting the eleventh edition of its annual festival of the Matanza, celebrating the rural traditions and gastronomic heritage of the municipality with an event dedicated to the slaughter and processing of a pig for food.
Many of the most important rural dishes served across the Murcia region include pork as the principal ingredient, and historically families in the countryside would rear and slaughter a pig to provide meat for the winter months of the year, making “embutidos” in the form of sausages which were dried or smoked while other cuts of meat were cured and salted.
This event shows the secrets of how meat was processed and preserved, as well as offering a chance to enjoy the meats and embutidos of the matanza, served in the historic setting of the Patio de Armas in Lorca castle as meat from the Chato Murciano pig is processed by experts and cooked for the enjoyment of visitors.
The tickets are priced to include entry to the castle complex and the open events taking place on the three days, with the options of paying extra for a plateful of meat and embutidos or of joining in with one of the guided tours in the Alfonsine Tower or the medieval synagogue, or with a dramatized family visit. The idea is to create an entertaining day out, giving families great flexibility in how much they would like to spend, with the option of eating at the matanza demonstration, using the on-site cafeteria or just bringing a picnic and visiting the castle while the demonstrations are taking place.
All of the guided tours are in Spanish, so non-Spanish speakers may prefer to use the English language audio guide which is part of the entry fee for the castle, and it is worth taking a look inside the Alfonsine Tower as the information boards are in English as well as Spanish.
Other entertainments provided this year include archery displays on the Friday and Saturday, prize draws, dramatized visits and children’s entertainment at lunchtime, allowing the grown-ups to enjoy their food in peace and quiet!
On all three days the castle is open to visitors from 10.30 to 18.30, and the recommended ticket to purchase is a 24-euro all-in package for adults, including the admission fee, 2 plates of food, 3 drinks and guided tours of both the Torre Alfonsina and the Synagogue. Similar tickets for children aged 5 to 12 cost 14 euros.
Alternatively, the admission fee on its own is priced at 6 euros for adults and 5 euros for children aged 5 to 12 (under 5s free of charge).
Plates of food can be purchased for 5 euros on the day.
Although there is an online booking system for reservations, tickets are also sold on the day of the activity at the reception of the castle, so it’s not necessary to navigate the online booking system if you don´t speak Spanish. To book online, click here.
Entry is free of charge to holders of the “Amig@ de Lorca” card, which can be obtained at the visitors’ centre, the tourist office or at the entrance to the castle.
Scheduled events on all three days are the following:
11.30, 13.30 and 16.30: guided tours of the Synagogue.
12.30 and 17.30: guided tours of the Torre Alfonsina.
13.00: Demonstrations of how to make homemade embutidos.
14.30 to 16.30: children’s entertainments.
11.45 and 13.15: dramatized tours for all the family (“En Busca del Tesoro”).
* Tourist train rides between the Lorca visitors centre in the Convento de la Merced and the castle: 1 euro per trip between 10.30 (the first train up) and 18.00 (the last service down into the city).
For more local events, news and tourist information go to the home page of Lorca Today.
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