Al-Andalus in Andalusia: Negotiating Moorish History and Regional Identity in Southern Spain (Social THOUGHT AND Commentary) (Viewpoint Essay‪)‬

Introduction: Formatting a Festival Until 2006, the culminating moment of the annual "Festival of Moors and Christians" in parts of Valencia, Spain was the sight of Muslim and Jewish figures burning in effigy. In recent history, a giant, turban-clad puppet known as Mahoma (Mohammed) was exploded each year at the festival, his gunpowder-filled head set ablaze with a cigar. This year, however, due to fears of retaliation from Muslim extremists, brought about in part by media coverage of violent protests following several Danish cartoons' depictions of the Prophet, Valencia's festivals were toned down. At one, in lieu of the usual head-explosion or effigy burning, after the costumed reenactments of battles between the Christians and the Moors, participants simply dragged the puppet Mahoma through the streets. Afterward, a Spaniard dressed up as a Moorish leader performed a theatrical conversion to Christianity and was publicly baptized.