Entertainment in Spain Essential Guide to What's on when and where in Spain Spanish Fiestas, Concerts, Festivals, Events Spain's Tourist, travel and holiday guide THE Spanish travel guide
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Pilgrimage to the Blanca
Paloma Shrine in the village of El Rocío
12th May 2008
(always 50
days after Easter)
This is one
of the most important pilgrimages in Spain and hundreds of thousands of
Spanish people from all over the country travel the 17 kilometres on
foot, horse back or cart from the town of Almonte (Huelva).
The various
brotherhoods from around the region begin their journey earlier in the
week dressed in traditional flamenco clothing and follow the ancient
footpaths to the mouth of the River Guadalquivir.
The fiestas
atmosphere increases throughout the pilgrimage as the crowd gets larger
and groups join up. The evenings are held around camp fires with
flamenco singing and dancing.
Once all
the brotherhoods arrive a parade is held on the Saturday to the statue
of The Virgin Mary in the Blanca Paloma Shrine of El Rocio where
the various standards are presented whilst the church bells ring.
Our Lady of Rocio - The White Dove
The fiestas
continues throughout Saturday night.
On Sunday there are church services then the fiestas continues for the
rest of the day and throughout the night.
On Monday the main event is the local people jumping over the fence to
bring The Statue of The Virgin Mary out to parade around the town.
After the
parade the fiesta is over.
The Patron Saint of El Rocío is Our Lady of Rocio (Our Lady of The Dew).
The tradition dates back to the 1700's when a shepherd ( or some
say it was a hunter) found a statue of the Virgin Mary in a tree trunk
near the sandy beaches inscribed with the words " María de Los Remedios
me llamo"(“I am called Mary of Remedies”). It is believed that perhaps
the image was hidden during the late period of the Reconquest to prevent
vandalism it was a period of turmoil and intolerance in Spanish History,
when both Christians and Muslims destroyed religious relics when they
conquered an area. It is believed that Christians of the town of Rocinas
(ancient name of El Rocío) removed the image of The Virgin Mary around
the 1400's and place it in the woods to spare it from any sort of
damage, only to be forgotten for many years.
Each year before the Sunday of Pentecost over thousands of Spanish
people make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Virgen del Rocío (Our Lady
of the Dew), at the edge of the Doñana National Park in southern Spain.
Pilgrims known as rocieros, travel for weeks, by foot, ox carts, horseback, car or plane from all over Spain, Europe, and The World. Most will assemble in Seville and other large cities in Southern Spain with one of many caravans organized by the "official fraternities" of Our Lady of Rocío. Dressed in traditional flamenco costumes pilgrims began the last leg of the pilgrimage in brightly-decorated horse-drawn carriages, as part of caravans traversing the Andalucian countryside. Beginning on Wednesday before Pentecost Sunday, devotees of the Virgen del Rocío participate in a joyous celebration blending religion and festive local flavor. , huge processions of flower-decorated wagon carts carrying the Standard (Sinpecado) of their fraternities converge in the village of Almonte (El Rocío), a small town 50km from Seville. The celebrations conclude with the solemn mass and procession of the Statue of the Virgen del Rocío on Monday of Pentecost. Since the 15th century, the Virgen Del Rocío has been the patroness of Almonte (El Rocío). Legend says a hunter May
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