The Romeria Del Rocio is one of Spain’s largest festivals and is celebrated at Whitsunday, the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday. Up to one million people join in the pilgrimage to the Andalusian countryside to pay homage to the Virgen Del Rocio, the patron saint of Almonte.

The Romeria Del Rocio is a blend of Catholic and local tradition. There are two parts to the celebration which are the festival in Almonte and the pilgrimage which takes place a few days later. It has been celebrated at the same isolated site in the countryside of Andalusia for over eight hundred years and is a very traditional affair. The Virgen Del Rocio has been the patron saint of Almonte since the fifteenth century, when a hunter from the village of Villamanrique is believed to have found a statue of the Virgin Mary in a tree trunk near the Donana Park. She is thought to be able to cure all kinds of disease, as well as mental disorders and infertility.

Thousands of people join in the pilgrimage to the marshes at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, coming from all over the country to pay their homage to the saint. Hundreds of processions are organised in the neighbouring villages and towns and join together in their pilgrimage.

No motorised cars or vehicles are allowed, so travellers are on foot, horseback or carriage. The ‘romeros’ or travellers are dressed in brightly coloured traditional clothing; with many women wearing beautiful flamenco dresses. Men traditionally wear large wide-brimmed ‘bolero’ hats and the short-cropped jackets that are famous to Andalusia. It is a colourful and unique procession that attracts people from all over the country as well as the world.

The travellers all arrive at Almonte before dawn, when the festivities begin in the El Rocio fields. The processions join together and walk to the El Rocio shrine in the marshes carrying a large effigy of the Virgen. The people join together to cry blessings to the patron saint and cries of “Viva la Reina de la Marisma” can be heard in far distances. This chant means “Long live the Queen of the Marshes” and is taken up by the thousands of people performing the pilgrimage. Singing and dancing begins all over the Andalusian fields, in honour of the Virgen Del Rocio.

Fireworks light the skies, and the fields resemble a carnival as people from around the country enjoy the fiesta. Hundreds of food stalls selling traditional tortillas and other snacks appear on the countryside, and wine and sherry flow freely.

The climax of the Romeria Del Rocio is on the weekend before Pentecost Monday, when the Virgin is brought out of the church in the early hours of the morning. Thousand of people await this moment, and rush eagerly to see her and to touch her if they are lucky. The Romeria Del Rocio is a very special celebration in Spain, and for those who have been lucky enough to join in, it is a remarkable and memorable experience.