Every year the old part of the town becomes the ideal setting for recreating the middle ages when it puts on its Medieval Market. Many look forward to the market and enjoy this event where there are fun activities for all ages: music, dance, puppet shows, theatre shows and workshops where some of the oldest professions can be seen.

The visitor is taken back to the past in a special ambiance where the smell of spices, the colour of the craftsmen's work and products and the taste of foods at the different stalls makes a visit a true festival for the senses!

This fair dates back to April 8, 1310 when King Alfonso X El Sabio gave authorisation for the council of Orihuela to celebrate this even, stating that it should take place 'one day after the feast of Saint Maria in the middle of August’ and that it ‘should last three days.' Throughout this time, all salespeople could attend the fair, they would have safe passage, would not have to pay tolls and they could keep any profit made on anything they sold or bought at the fair.

The fair was celebrated for the first time in the street parallel to the main street or the 'calle Mayor' which is why some people refer to the market sign the old street name.

‘To whom it concerns: Alfonso, by the grace of God, King of Castilla, Toledo, Leon, Galiçia, Seville, Cordoba, Murcia, Jaen, and the Algarve, out of goodwill, hereby grants the council of Orihuela permission to celebrate a fair once a year in Orihuela. This fair must take place one day after the feast of Saint Mary, in the middle of August and will last three days. All who come to this fair will be able to do so safely, bringing their wares and they will not have to pay tolls or any other payments for all that is bought and sold in Orihuela for the length of the fair.

Thus this letter stamped with our wax seal on this day April 18 in Murcia, 1310. As stated by me, the King’s notary in Andalusia, Garcia Dominguez.'

The difference between the fairs and the market was that the fairs took place once a year and lasted several days, they were held in a larger space in the centre of the town and craftsmen and salesmen came from other areas, some coming from very far away and offering products that were difficult to find elsewhere. The market, however, took place weekly and its aim was to provide the people with basic products. The products tended to be products which were easy to transport.