Travelling over Spain, it is impossible to pay attention to love and creativeness that the locals spend to decorate their patio – inner yards. It is said that patio decorated with flowers, fountains and natural fence roofs helped to spend the hot day in the shadow by talking with friends and relatives in a pleasant company. It was also the right place to make party and speak to other people.

Historical Facts

Middle Age period was characterized with the numerous feuds and wars. People tried to protect themselves with the high walls around their houses and patios to be well protected. It was a good idea to organize a place for rest inside the house over the high walls. Patio looks like the outdoors living room. Spain is a country with the rich culture of patio decoration. There is a tradition to organize patio everywhere, in a rich or poor house. It often happened that the patio was decorated only with the bench and the flower pot.

Later, this tradition was spread over the other countries, such as Latin America, Australia. So, modern patio must be organized in Spanish style with the paved mosaic floor with the fountain or pool in the center to get some coolness in a hot day.

Patio Landscape

Patio landscape depends on the size of the area you have in the yard and your preferences. You can often see the small symmetric flower beds on the corner of the yard with the great collection of subtropical flowered plants and decorative trees, big terra-cotta flower pots with the palms and bushes, hanging cache-pots with Bougainvillea, Hedera or Jasminum grandiflorum over the walls and grating here and there. As far as patio is the right place for rest and relaxation, you have to put only comfortable furniture here with the soft carpets and pillows. The painted ceramic plates, vases, amphora are widely used.

If you want to make the special atmosphere in your patio, you can put the birds there, bright peacocks and pheasants. As you know, Spanish people are very religious, so you can see the pictures of the Holy Mother on the walls. You can be inspired with the decorative solutions, including the door handles and walls decoration. It can also happen that the beautiful patio is a kind of advertising, welcoming you to come to the cozy restaurant or souvenir shop. You can see the patio not only in the private houses but in the hospital, churches, offices and other public buildings. Everyone can admire the beauty of the flowers.

Cordova Patio Festival

If you could visit Cordova in May, you can enjoy the beauty of the every year patio flower festival since 1932. Thousands of guests from all over the world come here to admire the flowers and patio design. The most popular flowers in this region are pelargoniums, fuschia, petunia and other flowers. They are hanging on the walls here and there to sweeten the air with their fragrances. You can take part in the competition only if you have a patio in your house. There are also the judges at a contest that judge the competition according to the criteria.

Of course, the main criteria to judge are the flower compositions. The flowers must be situated in the patio to meet the number of requirements. There is one more rule: you must have the well in your patio. You can be easily banned from the competition if your patio is decorated with the faux flowers, trees or fruits. If you want to take part in the competition, you should take the request and get ready. There is the judge team to decide which patio is the best one to win the competition and get the money prize.

Nevertheless, the money prize is not the main reason to take part in the competition. As a rule, the most of competitors are not poor people to compete to get some money. The festival lasts for 7 days. You must be very hospitable as hundreds of guests come to your house every day to see your patio. Never forget that patio is the living room of your houseа. The citizens and city guests come from the house to house to find the best floristic solution. There is music and feast everywhere. You can sing the folk songs and dance flamenco.

Flowers Fight

The most popular and famous competitors can sell the tickets to their patio for all visitors. You can also stand a long line to admire the beauty of the patio. No more than 2-3 visitors can get inside the small patio. One way or another, just the house owners decide whether you can get in or not. Nevertheless, all citizens like to open their doors to the tourists. The stony streets of the old city are in blossom before and after the festival. They are covered with flowers and fruits: arcs of roses, fuschias, petunias.

There is also a good tradition to have the flowers fight. This is the name of the flower parade. What a beautiful view you can see! The huge flowered platforms are going along the street! Each of them is decorated with the flower composition and sculptures. There is also a good tradition to decorate balconies with flowers. So, it was decided to include the Cordova Flower Patio Festival into the list of the world UNESCO heritage. This event makes people closer, helping to the cultural and natural exchange.

If you could hire a car in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, and go around the main city streets in May, you can see the natural carpets of flowers. All families try to participate with their natural and unique design. The streets and houses are covered with flowers for a week or two. The longest of them can be about 2 kilometers! It’s like the living picture! The base material to work with is carnation. The leaves, grass, stones are also used. The Day of flowers in Barcelona is a part of the Patio Flower Festival in Spain that welcomes you every May all over the country!