Finestrat is a municipality that has managed to preserve its most traditional festivals. This is the case of Sant Antoni del Porquet, a deeply-rooted festival that recalls the agricultural and livestock municipality that it was, in which religion occupied a preponderant place. Following this custom, this Sunday, January 19, the blessing of animals will be held at the doors of the Church of Sant Bertomeu, on its exit through the Plaça de la Torreta, from 12:30 p.m., and the traditional auction of lots that the previous days have been collected by the rural areas and the historic center of Finestrat will proceed.

After the blessings and the auction there will be children's workshops and face painting, as well as tasting, at affordable prices, the products of the land in the popular hut organized by the Comissió de Festes "El Balconet".

Sant Antoni is one of the most celebrated festivals in the Valencian Community. A third-century saint, known for his ascetic life, his devotion began in the East, but moved to the West, where he was invoked as the protector of agricultural tasks and animals. They say that Sant Antoni was a great lover of animals that he cared for and they obeyed him blindly. He is represented with a crosier, typical ascetic clothing and the cross of the Tau, with a pig or wild boar at his feet. Sant Antoni was also known for its healing power against diseases such as erysipelas, a bacterial infectious disease that affects the skin. Throughout the Middle Ages, numerous hospitals were built under his patronage throughout Europe.