The Fair of Sant Martirià in Banyoles

November is a quiet month in Barcelona, with nothing for the locals to celebrate. For those of you who are in town and longing for a party at that time, you are well advised to research the happenings in nearby towns — many municipalities surrounding Barcelona have rich event calendars even in the off-season.

For instance, Banyoles, a small town about an hour and a half's drive away from Barcelona, holds a fair called Fira de Sant Martirià every third weekend of November. Its history dates back to 1243, but the event became a traditional, annual occurrence in the 1970s.

The spotlight of the Fair is on horse showcase competitions. Besides the expected purebred Arabian and Spanish stallions, breeders also showcase horses that are native to Catalonia and other autonomous communities in Spain. Another memorable and exciting event is a racing tournament in which two pairs of participants (a horse and its rider) test their horses' abilities to avoid obstacles and pass turns. Each winner progresses into the next round, the loser is out of the competition. Because Banyoles is a small town where everybody knows each other, the audiences cheer for contestants not only based on their horses' talents, but also because they are relatives or friends of friends or fellow Barça fans.

The Banyoles Fair is dedicated to agriculture in general, so the horses, despite attracting a lot of attention, are not the only highlights of the event. You may, for example, check out a tractor exhibition, attend a Catalan donkey breeders' contest or visit a panel on Empordà chickens. If that's not your cup of tea, local beers, artisanal cheeses and jams, clothes and art await.

By Catalan standards, Banyoles is not the smallest town — it is home to roughly 19 thousand people. A few years ago, a survey was conducted by the University of Oviedo with the goal to rate the quality of life in various towns and cities in Spain. Criteria included economic activity, social services, housing, transit, environment, employment market, healthcare, culture, entertainment, education and public safety. Banyoles was rated the 7th across Spain and ended up the 1st in Catalonia.

Despite having several historically significant churches, museums and a monastery, Banyoles' main attraction is lake L'Estany de Banyoles, the largest natural body of fresh water on the whole Iberian Peninsula. Its square surface area is just over 1 sq. km, so you can circle it around in a few hours. During the 1992 Olympic Games, the kayaking and canoe competitions took place on the Banyoles lake instead of in Barcelona proper, making the town internationally famous is the elite sports circles.