Torremolinos gave its own special welcome to the Year of the Rat on Sunday with a colourful festival attended by more than 2,000 Chinese residents from all over Spain. For the third year running the local congress centre hosted the Andalusian Chinese New Year Festival. The bad weather seems to have kept some people away, however, as in previous years the event has attracted crowds of 4,000. In Torremolinos alone there are 400 Chinese citizens on the local census.
The traditional dance of the dragon, a symbol of protection, marked the start of events to celebrate the Year of the Rat, which officially began on February 7th. The congress centre was decked out in the style of the Chinese Spring Festival or “Chunjie”: with red lanterns; the characters that represent the word ‘fu’ (happiness) but hung upside down (a sign that it has already arrived); and this year, of course, numerous rats, an animal that symbolises intelligence and prosperity.
The Mayor of Torremolinos, Pedro Fernández Montes, had the job of giving life to the dragon by painting a dot on its horn, mouth and eyes. Then came traditional dancing and music, led by children from the San Miguel Chinese school in Malaga. Young An Hui Zhou had the “honour” of representing the sign of the rat in front of her compatriots.
The president of the Andalusian Chinese Association, Zhijie Xia, and the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Min Liu, stressed the need for closer links with the West in this year which will be so important for their country, with the Olympic Games being held in Beijing, and the celebration of 30 years of reform and opening-up.
