Festa dels Miquelets Festival

During the first week of September, Olesa is transformed into the setting for the War of the Spanish Succession (1705-1714), with a recreation of the events that took place in the town of Olesa de Montserrat during the conflict. As a meeting point and a strategic post, Olesa had a castle and hospital and was located close to the Bourbon headquarters in Martorell and the royal road to Esparreguera, as well as being half-way between Manresa and Barcelona.

During the week there are workshops, book launches, talks, exhibitions, games and dances. But the ultimate historic moment (on the weekend) is the recreation of two military camps (the Miquelets’ and the Bourbons’), with the municipality decked out in the style of the period with a Baroque market, marching soldiers and reenactments of battles, as well as a homage to the “Memorial 158”, with an offering and a salute of honor in memory of the 158 Habsburg loyalists who died in the war in Olesa de Montserrat, and the recreation of the War Council held on August 20 and 21, 1714 by the Marquis of Poal and his colonels in their desperate attempt to break the Siege of Barcelona.

Curiosity

The Miquelets were units of genuinely Catalan elite soldiers, specializing in ambush operations. Thanks to their knowledge of the local terrain, their mobility and their weapons, they became their enemies’ worst nightmare.