A very Spanish event took place this week in Bilbao - an ugly competition!
The Spanish love their quirky events. There's the famous Tomatina Tomato Fight (which takes place this Wednesday) and other throwing festivals in Spain, the running of the bulls, as well as the less well-known events like the one where they jump over new born babies or jump into a lake to collect plastic ducks.
In the same tradition is this ugly festival, a part of the Semana Grande festival that takes place in the Basque Country every August (read more about August in Spain). The event, which has been running annually since 1979, is not an inverted beauty contest, but rather it's a face-pulling contest. And, erm, that's it. It's hardly worth the trip to Bilbao just for that, but thankfully Semana Grande, Bilbao and the wider Basque Country region are worthy for other reasons.
Semana Grande is also home to the annual Strongman contest, giant puppets as well as the usual festivities that go with Spanish fiestas - fireworks, food and lots and lots of alcohol. Bilbao is home to the Guggenheim museum, while the Basque Country is home to the world famous pintxos (the local form of tapas) and the spectacular beach town of San Sebastian.
- Check out pictures from the Ugly Competition in Bilbao