12 Grapes for 2013 – June – Marbella’s Patron Saint

June is the sixth grape of the 12 the Spanish traditionally eat at midnight on New Year’s Eve (one per chime). June is also a big month in Marbella on the Costa del Sol because fiesta time takes over the city.

The week around June 11th sees loud and colourful celebrations in honour of the city’s patron saint, San Bernabé. Expect impressive fireworks to herald the start of celebrations, endless drinking, dancing and singing, and a general good time for at least a week. All this in honour of one man who lived over 2,000 years ago.

So  just who was San Bernabé? I discovered the following:

• Place of birth (and death as it turns out): Salamina, Cyprus
• Date of death: June 11th approx 70AD
• Death by: stoning
• Originally called: Joseph
• Name means: “the one who tries and motivates”
• Occupation: one of the 60 disciples.
• Others said of him: “he’s a good man, filled with faith and Holy Spirit”. 

This blog post is 1 of 12 posts, one for each month of the year, that I will be posting during the month of January. I got the idea for 12 month posts from the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes on the 12 chimes of midnight heralding the start of the new year.